


Mary-Sue-Gi-Oh! Eye of the Doppelganger

by sass_bot



Series: Mary-Sue-Gi-Oh! [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Alternate Canon, Background Relationships, Dramedy, F/F, F/M, Gen, Mystery, Original Character Death(s), Original Characters from Alternate Universes, Psychological Drama, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2018-10-20 13:42:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 53,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10663812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sass_bot/pseuds/sass_bot
Summary: When Serafina's house burned to the ground with her in it, she didn't really expect the afterlife to be full of card games. After a couple of months in her new reality, she and several other duelists are contacted by Maximillion Pegasus and are forced to face the true culprit behind her and many others' inexplicable revivals.





	1. Prologue - Somnium

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya~ Against my own better judgement, I've started on a sequel to my "Mary-Sue-Gi-Oh! Gathering of the Departed" fanfic because there's nothing I love more than beating a dead horse. (literally in this case -geddit bc they're all dead?) 
> 
> Anyway, this is a bit different than its predecessor in that I've put occasional markers where I believe an appropriate soundtrack could be played. Of course, you can choose to ignore them or not. If it seems like nobody is really using them, I'll probably get too lazy to keep adding them, so if you do enjoy them, let me know.

_[Soundtrack: What Came Before - Assassin's Creed III]_

* * *

_**Shadow?** _

_Huh?_

_**Shadow?** _

It's louder now, but the world is still black around him. He feels like something heavy is sitting on his chest, impairing his breathing.

_**Are you awake, boss?** _

It's clearer now, but he can't see the speaker. His limbs are like stone blocks attached to his torso. Where is he? Why does this voice sound so familiar to him?

A pause and then a sigh. He still doesn't know what's happening around him. He should be dead. He wants to be dead. His fallacy of a life has been going on for too long.

Before another thought can cross his mind, a mind-shattering chill washes over him and he feels as though a bucket of icy water (and perhaps some ice as well) had just been dumped onto his body. Without taking a moment to think about it, his torso rises and his eyes snap open, a sensation of rage overtaking him.

Finally, light fills his world, leaving him too speechless to act on the fiery emotions that awoke him. He surveys his surroundings, finding himself in a simple, primitive room.

"S-Sorry, boss… You weren't waking up… So I had to…"

His gaze slowly settles on the only other person in the room, a woman, whose ebony skin is covered with dirt and scars. She's still holding the jar she used to douse him with water, sheepishly grinning at him.

He senses his chest tightening abruptly, causing him to wince in pain, gripping his chest and bending over. He tries to breathe in a full breath, but he can't. Eventually, he manages to take short, shallow breaths, which wouldn't at all satisfy him, but would keep him from passing out for the moment.

"You alright, boss?" the woman asks, her raspy voice fading into the background. She drops the jar to the ground with a subtle thud as she walks over to him. "Was the water too much? You're not looking too good…"

Finally, the man finds his voice, after trying and failing to understand how any of the current events could be real. "Evren? What… Why… _How_ are you here?"

"I came through the front door, boss? The rebels are meeting in an hour, and you're still in bed." She shrugs and grins. "Just what kinda fearless leader _are_ you? I bet Ironheart didn't steal the throne from our ancestors by sleeping in."

"What?" Shadow says, sending Evren an irritated glare. "I wasn't -"

"Sun's been up for ages, Shadow…"

"Wait… What time is it?"

Now it's Evren's turn to glare. "What are you? Stupid? Put your dick away and let's go inspire that merry band of bandits we call an army."

Shadow glances down and turns red immediately. Letting out a groan, he lets muscle memory lead him to a chest at the far end of the room. He ends up covering his modesty with an unremarkable tunic and pants before throwing on a robe.

Evren smirks at him. "Oh, look at you! Who says only land-stealing nobles get to look nice."

He's not sure if this is muscle memory, too, or if he just really wants to say it, but it comes out of his mouth anyway. "Shut up, Evren."

She bursts out laughing. "Aren't you in a good mood!" She saunters over to him and slaps his shoulder. "Let's get your pretty-boy ass to Neptune's Plaza before any women show up at your door to throw themselves at you, eh?"

He throws open the door, watching the sun flood into his small home, and puts a hand over his eyes to shield them from the brightness. It's the same slum he remembers from all those years ago. The floors are paved with copper, azure, and white stones. The houses are small but beautifully built, even for the lowest members of society. It is just as beautiful as he remembers.

There are people making their way to the shops and children laughing as they threw cotton balls at each other. A woman he vaguely recognizes passes by his door, giving him a flirtatious look and tightening the shawl around her body. "Good day, Captain," she purrs.

"To you as well, R-Rayan," he greets, struggling to push the name to the front of his mind. It has been so long since he's said it.

"You look as though you've seen a ghost," she tells him, giggling and adjusting the veil over her lips. "Is Evren here?"

He nods weakly and tries to calm himself. He doesn't want to tell her how wrong her assumption is. He hasn't just seen one ghost; he's looking at an entire continent of them. This can't be real. This isn't real. He's dreaming. This is some cruel trick his mind is playing on him, making him believe he's gotten a second chance. He doesn't deserve to be home again.


	2. Casual Incineration

_[Soundtrack: Song Without a Name (Inst.) - Umineko No Naku Koro Ni]_

* * *

" _Good morning everyone, this is Meggy Leermann with more on Seto Kaiba's press conference last evening. Last night, the mogul announced that he would be taking a six month leave of absence for personal reasons, which he refused to divulge to the press, leaving KaibaCorp in the hands of its board of directors. Could this decision be related to the shocking death of a Battle City Tournament contestant aboard the KaibaCorp blimp during the finals just last week? We have our expert here with us today to discuss…"_

The television droned on in the crowded diner with nobody to listen to it. It was early; too early, but we felt like pancakes that morning, and the diner didn't serve breakfast after 10AM, so…

"So you're saying Maximillion Pegasus invited you two losers to some sort of secret project, and _I'm_ not invited?" came Weevil's shrill and desperate cry. "That makes no sense!"

Rex chuckled at his green-haired friend (or blue-haired? Fuck if I know). "Well, we can't _all_ be winners," he teased, turning his nose up and putting his hands on his hips.

"Actually -" I began to say.

And you know what? Let's stop there for a sec. Hi; my name is Sera. I'm fourteen years old and due to some extenuating circumstances, I had to spend a couple of months in Domino City hanging out with Tweevil Dee and T-Rex Dum over here. What extenuating circumstances would force me to hang out with two annoying guys, you say? Well, to put it simply, my house burned down with me in it. I died (I think) and was for some reason given a second chance at life in a whole other dimension. It was a whole thing and I don't want to bore you with the details. Just thought you may want to know this before moving on.

"Don't you guys think that whatever Pegasus wants, it might have something to do with the weird connection that Rex and I have?" This weird connection I had with Rex? Also a thing that I don't feel like explaining, and the reason why I even hung out with those chuckleheads to begin with. Sorry; moving on again.

"How would Pegasus even _know_ about that though?" Rex pondered, leaning back in his seat. Weevil and I had just finished shovelling pancakes into our mouths, but Rex still had a full plate in front of him. Honestly, who even _does_ that? What kind of no-good, rotten, piece of shit can order pancakes and then proceed to just _look_ at them for like five minutes without taking a bite? My bafflement aside, however, he did have a point.

"Well, wasn't he like some sort of archaeologist or something?" I offered uncertainly. "I remember he discovered duel monsters in some ancient Egyptian temple. Maybe this is something like that."

He shrugged. "Maybe? But I'm a hundred percent not Egyptian so it's pretty far-fetched."

"Well, I'm a hundred percent Latina, so same here. But maybe it _is_ Egyptian, but old Tut's not picky so he just used his old godly powers to connect random people together."

Weevil made a face and mumbled. "He's a Pharaoh."

"Huh?"

"King Tut is a Pharaoh, dumbshit," Rex said, leaning into my face as he did. "Not a god."

"Isn't it all the same? Like… technically?"

"No," the boys said in unison. Tough crowd.

"Also Tut wasn't old. He died like really young," Weevil added.

"Well, fuck you guys," I grumbled, swiping a finger across my plate and shoving the syrup covered appendage into my mouth.

Rex sniggered. "Love you, too, dweeb."

"Oh, Rex!" I exclaimed, slamming my hands on the table and sitting on my knees. "How 'bout we ask Pegasus if Weevil can come? I mean, if it's only one person, I'm sure there's room for him, too!"

Weevil, too, sat up on his knees and slammed down on the table, causing the already shaken coffee mugs to rattle. "That's brilliant, Sera!"

"I mean, I wouldn't exactly call it a revolutionary idea," Rex said nonchalantly, taking a bite out of his pancakes.

"Why do you gotta rain on my parade every time I come up with an idea?" I complained, settling back into my seat and crossing my arms over my chest.

Weevil had my back. Did I ever tell you that he was my favorite? Because he was. "Yeah! Why do you gotta rain on our parade?" Rex simply shrugged in response and shoved another bite of his pancakes into his mouth. Something was off about him.

"Hey, what's with you?" I asked him, pushing my plate into the center of the table so I could rest my upper body against the table. "You've been super intense since Pegasus called us. You wanna talk about it?"

"Is it…" Weevil started, but was silenced by a sharp glare from Rex.

"Wha-haaaat?" I nagged, leaning even further into the table. "Rex, talk to meeee."

"There's nothing to talk about, Sera. Drop it."

"No, I won't drop it!" I insisted. "Whether you like it or not, you and me, we're partners. And partners share things with each other! Now, fess up!"

He grimaced. "Fine. I had a freaky dream about the Inbetween again. There were some people there, and they were in danger -"

"Well, so did I, but I have those all the -"

He interjected, "It's not that. The people in it were people I knew. There was this girl I dueled once -I watched her die… It was freaky. I don't know if she's connected or -"

I frowned. That must have sucked. The only people I knew in Domino City were Rex and Weevil, so I didn't really have anyone else to worry about. So whenever I dreamt about people in the Inbetween, they would always be people I didn't know.

"Was there anyone _I_ know?" Weevil asked, suddenly curious about this dream of his.

Rex scratched his head for a moment then replied, "Yeah, I think so. You remember that Mai Valentine chick from Duelist Kingdom? Also that weirdo Bakura…" he trailed off and went for another few bites of pancake.

"Did they die, too?" Weevil pressed.

"Mph mh…" Rex replied with a mouth full of food. His tone and the shrugging gesture he did made it clear he had no idea.

I sighed and put my chin in my hands. "I wonder why we keep dreaming about it even though we've never been there. Like it doesn't exactly look like my number one holiday destination from what I've seen in my dreams, but it sure does seem like we're missing out on one hell of a party."

"Not any kind of party I'd wanna be a part of," Rex said. He put the last bite of his pancake into his mouth and chewed it deliberately. "Mph meh… pfple dah deh."

"Gross! Don't talk with your mouth full!" I scolded, glaring at him.

He made a show of swallowing his bite before speaking again. "I'm saying, if people die in the Inbetween, then why the hell d'ya even wanna go there? I, for one, am glad that we don't gotta put up with all that creepy Inbetween business. The nightmares are enough for me; thank you very much." He took a swig of his coffee, which had long since cooled down. "If what Pegasus wants from us has something to do with all that, then I say we just tell him, 'thanks, but no thanks'"

I put on my most evil face and said in an ominous voice. "If you _die_ in the Inbetween, you _die_ I-R-L."

"Shut up, Sera."

I hummed quietly, electing to ignore Rex at that moment, then looked at Weevil. "What do you think?"

"I still wanna go," he replied. "It's the creator of Duel Monsters! Who wouldn't wanna go?" He shot an accusatory glance at Rex. "Hey, maybe if he doesn't remember what we look like, I could go instead of Rex."

"Hey!" Rex growled. "I ain't letting you go instead. He asked _me_!"

Weevil sniggered at him. "And what happened to 'thanks, but no thanks', huh?"

"Ya moron! That's just if it turns out he's trying to get us over there because of -" He lowered his voice for this part. " _You know_." It didn't really have much of an effect; the three of us were being so rowdy, almost half of the diner was already staring at us. "It's probably a dueling tournament, though!" he said, using his normal tone again. "He probably recognized that Sera and I are dueling geniuses! Besides, why else would he be doing this right after Battle City Tournament tanked? He's obviously trying to one-up Kaiba."

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Movement of DOMA - Yu-Gi-Oh! Sound Duel Vol. 3]_

* * *

 

As it turned out, he _wasn't_ trying to one-up Kaiba. Actually, I feel like maybe you guys already knew that. He also didn't want us to participate in a duel tournament, but you probably could have anticipated that, too, but let's not get too far ahead.

Pegasus had made the announcement to us the night before we went to that diner -as it turned out, we were the last to know. As per the instructions on the videotape Pegasus had sent to us, we had exactly a week to pack our bags for this mysterious six-month trip that he wanted us for. The good news, however, was that, after sending an email to Industrial Illusions HR and having it take 4 whole business days for them to answer, we were told that we were allowed to bring Weevil with us -for whatever that's worth.

The three of us were told to show up at the docks at 5AM and we were feeling as one would normally feel when forced to arrive somewhere at the asscrack of dawn. Weevil was leaning against Rex, trying to stay awake, but failing miserably. He had stayed up surfing internet forums reading up on some kind of insect that had either just been discovered or had just gone extinct -I didn't really care either way -and he ended up forgoing sleep.

There were a few other people at the docks as well -around a dozen people other than us, all dragging several suitcases behind them. It was like standing at an airport. Rex even recognized a few of them. "See those over there?" he pointed out. "Those are five Battle City finalists, Ryou Bakura and Mai Valentine; and also Ishtar siblings, Marik, Ishizu, and Odion." The spot he indicated was occupied by a tall blonde woman, two teenage boys, and a girl around my age with copper-colored hair. Standing a distance away from them was a woman draped in white cloth and covered in gold bangles, along with an intimidating looking man with tattoos all over his head.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, pointing in the direction of someone I actually recognized, a boy older than me with long black hair. He didn't seem very well dressed for the chilly morning air as he wore a shirt baring his chest to the elements. "That's Mako Tsunami! I dueled him during Battle City. He beat me, though." Mako was chatting animatedly with an older man, who looked to be in his mid to late twenties. That man had also been with Mako the last time we met -his name was Enzi, if I recalled correctly.

Weevil gasped. "And isn't that Ziegfried Von Schroeder?"

"Most of the people here are duelists. Maybe even all of them," Rex stated, sending a suspicious glance to three people that none of us recognized, dressed in dark robes and obscuring their identities with hoods. "Ya think this might really be a secret duel tournament?"

Weevil looked doubtful. "Why wouldn't he invite me, then?" he moaned.

I stroked my chin. "There were eight Battle City Finalists, weren't there?"

Rex nodded in confirmation. "All of them are here, except for Yugi Muto, Joey Wheeler, and Seto Kaiba."

"He hasn't even invited Yugi Muto? But isn't he the King of Games?" Just as I said that, I felt a sharp pain on my collar. Inhaling a deeply, I yanked off the necklace I had around my neck and glared at it, letting it dangle by its chain so it wouldn't burn my hand. "What gives?"

Rex frowned. "You brought that thing with you? Ever since we won it in that weird duel, it's been giving us nothing but trouble." He was right of course. The crystal necklace which had just tried to fry my skin off was one that a man who called himself "Hamlet" had given me after I beat him in a duel. He told me some weird shit about me being an abomination, then something about how this crystal would be the key to everything and that I needed to keep it safe. Keeping it safe, however, entailed dealing with more weird people trying to duel me for it. Weirdly enough, nobody considered taking it from me by force. Figures. Understandably, though, I couldn't leave the thing behind with Rex's parents. Rex had been urging me to toss it in the trash or flush it down a toilet, but I could never bring myself to do so.

I saw something flash in the light of the rising sun and turned my head to find the boy known as Marik speaking quietly to the red-haired girl. He had something shiny in the palm of his hand, and it seemed to most certainly be another crystal. He grabbed the girl's hand and placed the crystal within it while whispering to her. They were then interrupted by Mai, who pulled the girl away from him.

For a moment, his eyes met mine and then landed on the necklace I was just waving around in broad daylight (like a fucking fool). I quickly unzipped one of the pockets on the backpack I had on, and tucked the necklace inside. Funnily enough, this backpack actually came from my old home -y'know before all that annoying shit happened, like me dying and my house burning to the ground. I didn't really know why it was revived with me, but it just randomly showed up at Rex's doorstep one day with a duel disk and a deck of cards and really, I just decided not to question it.

It was pretty boring after that, though. We waited for a couple more minutes for something to happen. We were all pretty early, so I wasn't surprised that, at ten minutes to 5AM, there wasn't much going on. It was five minutes before the agreed upon time when we first noticed the sound of a chopper disrupting the serenity of dawn. The sound caused all of our heads to turn. The chopper was black with a K and a C, the logo for KaibaCorp, along the side of it. As far as I knew, there weren't any helicopter pads nearby, so I wondered where they intended to land that thing.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, a large metal structure rose out of the water; from what we could see, it was at least half as long as a football stadium, maybe even longer as part of it was still obscured under the water. It was certainly wide enough to fit a helicopter as well, and each of us watched in stunned silence as the chopper descended atop the structure, spraying us with cold mist.

We all stood with bated breath as the door slid open and one long leg stepped out of the chopper. It was Seto Kaiba, clad in his sterling trenchcoat and black turtleneck top -speaking of which, have you guys ever noticed that the tight fitting black turtleneck seems to be the go-to outfit for all rich IT tycoons? Weird as fuck, am I right? Well, never mind that anyway.

Following Seto was his younger brother Mokuba, who was dressed more casually than his brother, with a stride that seemed less intimidating and more excited. The brothers walked towards the edge of the metal structure by the railing that went along the side and regarded us with a scrutinous eye. It looked like he wanted to say something, but was waiting for the chopper to either turn off its propellers or leave. Once the boys were a safe distance away from it, the chopper door closed and it began to lift off again, thus ending the ridiculously extravagant spectacle that was Seto Kaiba's entrance.

For real though? What kind of rich asshole decides, 'Yo, I'm gonna hire a chopper _and_ a submarine so I can make my grand entrance.'? Like how fucking pretentious can you get. At any rate, it wasn't super important (just like 99% of the things I say); what actually _was_ important, though, was what Kaiba was about to say.

"Looks like you all made it," he told us, and man, could his voice carry. He wasn't using a microphone or a megaphone, but his voice was just naturally amplified by his surroundings.

"Well, not _all_ of them," a haughty voice laughed, "but a great turnout nonetheless." This new voice came from behind us, and I nearly gave myself whiplash trying to turn my gaze to the newcomer. He was tall -taller than he seemed on TV -and he was dressed in a maroon suit, ironed to perfection.

One look at Kaiba's face told me that he wasn't exactly pleased to see Maximillion Pegasus. Seto's face had twisted in disgust and he simply stood in silence as Pegasus made his way through the small crowd and towards the dock. If Seto was here for the same reason we were, though, it was a bit weird that he seemed shocked and appalled at Pegasus's appearance.

"Oh, lighten up, Kaiba-boy. It was just a joke."

Seto scoffed and Mokuba glanced up at his brother in concern. "It wasn't funny," the elder Kaiba replied stiffly.

"Psst -" I felt Weevil's breath in my ear. "Is it just me, or does it look like almost everyone here has a bone to pick with Pegasus." I hadn't paid much attention to the rest of the guests, but upon closer inspection, it was evident that everyone was annoyed at him for some reason and we were the only ones who hadn't really gotten the memo.

Once Pegasus reached the railing along the side of the dock, he spoke again. "Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why I've gathered you all today, and, contrary to what you may think, this is no duel tournament, but it is quite closely related to duel monsters. There's no time to explain now, so I hope you've all packed everything you need, because you won't be seeing land for two months."

"Wait, what?" I couldn't stop the words coming out of my mouth, and all eyes turned to me. Feeling pressured to say something, I quickly spat out a question. "What do you mean? Where are you taking us?"

Pegasus smirked and pulled a radio off of his belt. "All in due time, Serafina." With that, he put the radio to his lips and spoke again, this time, to whoever was on the other end of the radio. "Kemo, it's time. Please prepare for passenger boarding and departure."

A dull thud sounded as the hatch on top of the vessel opened on its hinges and a sturdy looking man, with an odd-looking mohawk that seemed to protrude out of his head like a rhino horn, climbed out and made his way towards what looked like a gate. He opened the gate and got to work laying down a bridge from the submarine's surface to the dock.

In a quick, almost theatrical, motion, Pegasus did that signature 'excited white person on a game show' jog up to the bridge and crossed it, then, without missing a beat, turned on his heel like a ballet dancer and stood beside the Kaiba brothers. "Well?" he called out to the crowd, myself included, who were just standing in their places like statues, staring at the absolute cartoon character that was Maximillion Pegasus. "What are you all waiting for? We have quite the journey ahead of us, and the clock's ticking.

I didn't really know about anyone else on those docks, but Pegasus's words immediately sent a sense of urgency into my mind. I glanced around at the people around me as we all shuffled towards the bridge. I was the first one onboard, nearly tackling Kemo to the ground in an attempt to get off of the bridge as soon as possible. The sight of the water beneath me had made me dizzier than I'd admit in front of Weevil and Rex. Let's just say, me and saltwater weren't really friends after a close call I had at the Dead Sea (AKA the fuckboy of seas) a while back.

I felt my body let out an involuntary shudder as the rest of the guests made their way onto the ship after me. The body heat emanating from their bodies caused bile to pool in the back of my throat. I took another look at the boy who had been holding the crystal earlier -Marik. As my eyes met his, a single red tear fell down his face: blood. Before long, his eye sockets began to sag, revealing the bruised muscles just beneath them. His face slowly melted before my eyes as though doused in acid.

"Sera!" a soft voice called out, and a hand slipped into mine, clenching around it tightly. Marik's face returned to its original state, and he simply eyed me cautiously.

I turned to face the owner of the voice and said, "Hey, Rex. Thanks for that." Rex smiled in acknowledgement, squeezing my hand briefly. Weevil was just a short ways away from us, chatting with Mako.

Rex had a concerned look in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

I sighed and tried to avoid Marik's gaze, distancing myself from him and dragging Rex with me. When I was certain that nobody else was in earshot, I mumbled, "That Marik guy… I think he's one of us."

"One of… us?" he replied, the color draining from his face as all his fears were confirmed.

I nodded and then scanned all of the faces around us. "And I don't think he's the only one."

Before Rex could react, Kemo began to usher us towards the hatch, and we all began to descend one by one into the dark tunnel. I could vaguely hear the sound of the hatch being closed as the last person entered. A sense of curiosity and fear washed over me. On one hand, I did not like the idea of being underwater for a long period of time, but on the other, I couldn't help but wonder what we could possibly need a submarine for. I knew that Kaiba and Pegasus were known for being flashy (as rich people tend to be), but would they really hire a submarine crew just so we could play children's card games underwater?

After being led through several dimly lit passages and ducking under many doorways, we ended up in a room that was lit by several fluorescent lights. It seemed to be a meeting room with several tables lined up in a U-shape with one larger desk at the back of the room (or was it the front?). Pegasus and Seto Kaiba were already seated at the large desk, and it seemed like the rest of us were expected to take our seats as well.

Rex, Weevil, and I were seated at the table at the base of the U-shape, sitting directly opposite of Pegasus's table. I flinched when someone sat beside me, but relaxed when I realized it was just Mako. I smiled weakly and greeted him.

"You look better than you did when we last dueled," Mako remarked with a grin. "Are you feeling better now?"

I nodded, recalling my duel with Mako. That had been the first time I had had one of my disturbing hallucinations. I hadn't put two and two together yet, but after meeting Enzi, I began to suspect that the hallucinations were related to my _special circumstances._ Now, as disorienting as it may have been, the hallucinations acted like a sort of spidey-sense for anything related to the Inbetween or the mysterious reason I was brought back to life in this universe.

I saw Enzi lean over and give me an understanding smile. "I felt pretty bad at first, too. I think you got it a lot worse than I did, though." Enzi was dead, too, as far as I knew; he didn't really like to talk about it, though, leaving everyone completely in the dark as to how he died, which was a shame, since I could have used someone to confide in about this stuff. Death and being dead… it was all pretty heavy stuff, and although I had tried as well as I could to deal with it with Rex's help, it was still a bummer to really think about.

"Now, then," Pegasus began, causing a hush to fall over the room. "I believe it's time to tell you exactly why you're all here."


	3. Panic! On the Submarine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is less funny than it sounds huehuehuehuehue

_[Soundtrack: Lounge - Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward]_

* * *

Once everyone was seated, nobody said a word, all eyes trained on Maximillion Pegasus, unsure of what he would say to us, afraid even. It was like we all had our own ideas of what he would say, and none of us expected it to be good. As for myself and Rex, well, I believe we'd already discussed what we were afraid this was about. It was quite telling that many of the individuals present had featured in the nightmares we regularly had.

Kemo was standing beside the door like a statue, his expression passive. He was wearing his sunglasses indoors, which would have normally made me burst out laughing, but I had other things to worry about, and my stomach was too tied up in knots for me to let out any sounds other than anxious breaths.

It seemed like Pegasus was keeping us waiting on purpose, which was probably a 100% Pegasus thing to do. He had already said it wasn't going to be a duel tournament, so what _was_ it? If it was related to the reason why I was still alive, then how could that possibly have been related to Duel Monsters? But I knew what I saw; that vision I had when I looked at Marik's face coupled with the crystal shard I saw him holding… It couldn't have been a coincidence.

Before anyone could say anything, however, there was a tiny knock on the door that Kemo was guarding. The dull metallic sound may not even have been audible had the rest of us not been as silent as death. I saw Pegasus nod to Kemo, who held the door open for the mysterious guest.

"I'm sorry for being late, Mr. Pegasus!" a timid feminine voice called out. There was something familiar about it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

The voice belonged to a very small girl with large doe-eyes and freckles. Her honey-blonde hair was voluminous yet soft and fell down her back in large curls. She was dressed in a baby blue sundress with a light pink about her screamed elegant, delicate, and beautiful.

Pegasus gave the girl a wide smile before saying, "Lia! Come inside. We were waiting for you." _We were?_ "Actually, it seems like there aren't anymore seats, so you can come sit in my place." We looked on in confusion as Pegasus got to his feet chivalrously and pulled out the seat that was beside Seto Kaiba. The girl could only reluctantly shuffle over and do as she was told. I felt kinda sorry for her, being put in the spotlight like that. Maybe it was our fault for bringing along Weevil; Pegasus likely hadn't accounted for extra guests.

In a fluid and acrobatic motion, the host of the meeting then climbed over the desk where Lia was now seated and hopped into the cavity in the center of all the tables. He surveyed all of the guests and then spoke. "Well, I suppose I should explain myself, shouldn't I?" he laughed. "I must repeat that the reason I've gathered you here today has nothing to do with Duel Monsters. In fact, it has nothing to do with Industrial Illusions, or even me. I'm just the host and financer of this expedition."

"What expedition?" Mako's voice cut in, sounding impatient and annoyed. "Where are you taking us?"

Pegasus smirked. "That, I cannot say yet, Mr. Tsunami. In fact I will not be able to tell you until you're ready."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded; Mako's boldness had returned my confidence. "You can't just keep us on this submarine and not tell us where we're going."

He wasn't even fazed by my words. "Miss Vasquez, one day that impatience of yours is going to kill you." His words felt like a gunshot firing straight into my chest. _How did he know?_

_Sera, wait, don't go in yet! Just wait!_

I felt Rex's hand grip mine tightly and the flames that licked up my body returned to the deepest recesses of my mind where they belonged. My body was way too tense to even hit him back with a snappy retort, so I simply glared at him. The knowledge that Pegasus knew exactly what I was painted the morning in a much more grim light than before.

"Now, that I've said all I can for the moment, I would like the following people to stand up," Pegasus began. His eyes scanned the room again and then began to list off the names. "Mokuba Kaiba, Seto Kaiba, Mai Valentine, Ishizu Ishtar, Odion Ishtar, Weevil Underwood, and Ziegfried Von Schroeder." Around a third of the people present got to their feet without saying a word. The silent obedience sent chills up and down my spine. "As much as I appreciate you guests coming in to support your friends and loved ones, I must ask you to please follow Kemo as he leads you all to your rooms." All the guests shuffled over to Kemo as he held the door open.

It was then that one of the guests snapped. The young man with long, rose colored hair and a pristine suit, the one we knew as Ziegfried, scowled. "What? Are you expecting me to just leave my brother here alone with you and all these people? He's just a kid!"

The boy who was still seated next to Ziegfried frowned and looked up at his older brother and then at Pegasus with pleading eyes. He wouldn't say a word, but it was clear that he didn't want his brother to leave.

Pegasus simply chuckled. "Why, Zieggy-boy, don't you worry; we'll all take good care of little Leon, won't we, everyone?"

Everyone seated, including me and my friends, stayed silent. Nobody knew what Pegasus had in store, and none of us could make any promises, so our eyes just wandered around the room, avoiding Ziegfried's outraged face.

"Y-You bastard! If anything happens to Leon -" Ziegfried threatened, but his voice dropped back into his throat when he was pinned against the wall by Kemo.

"Word to the wise," Pegasus said, his voice taking on a slightly sinister tone. "I wouldn't threaten a man when his bodyguard is in the same room."

Ziegfried could hardly even breathe with the massive body of Kemo crushing his chest. He simply let out a couple of choked coughs before Kemo released him and roughly yanked him by his arm, pushing him out the door with the rest of the guests.

Once Kemo had shut the door to the meeting room, things were silent again. There were twelve of us sitting around Pegasus now: Rex, Mako, Enzi and I were sitting on one edge of the square; the three hooded people and Leon were occupying the second edge; Marik, Bakura, and the copper haired girl were sitting on the third edge.

Lia was sitting alone, on the edge directly across from me. Her eyes met mine briefly before she shyly looked away. She was the only one who seemed to have come alone.

"Alrighty then!" Pegasus exclaimed, sounding way too cheerful considering the circumstances. "There's an even number of you. Isn't that perfect!"

"Perfect for what?" Marik said. His arms were crossed and he was glaring daggers at Pegasus.

"Why, for a game, of course!" he replied as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "And to play this game, you need two teams."

It was at this point that Rex's calm was shattered. "Game? You're making us stay in this submarine for half a year for a stupid game? Are you shitting me? And it ain't even a Duel Monsters competition?"

The gleeful expression on Pegasus's face faltered such a brief moment that if I had blinked I would have missed it. "This isn't just some stupid game, Mr. Raptor. This is a test. Only those who pass can proceed."

"Proceed where?" I asked, forcing myself to sound more angry than scared.

Pegasus chuckled. "Remember what I told you about patience, Sera."

I narrowed my eyes at him and grumbled a string of curse words. He probably didn't hear them, but I wouldn't have really given a shit if he did hear them.

Moving on, he said, "First things first, though. Sun, Zephyr, and Rafael. There's no need to hide your identities. Why don't you take off those tacky robes and show us your faces?"

His words were directed at the three robed figures. We all watched them calmly lower their hoods without a word. They were two men and one woman. One of the men was burly and had short blonde hair and sideburns. The second man had a skinny face and messy black hair. The woman looked slightly older than her companions with inky black hair draped over one shoulder and plump bright red lips.

Pegasus nodded at them. "Now, I'd like to assign you to your teams. I'm going to pick two team leaders. The first will be…" He pointed, moving his finger over us in a counting motion before letting it stop in front of me. "Serafina. You will be in charge of Team Alpha" I felt a lump rise to my throat when I heard my name. "And since you're sitting all the way over there, why don't I make Lia the second team leader? Lia will be in charge of Team Beta." Lia also looked quite surprised to hear her name.

Pegasus proceeded to assign us all to our teams. My team was a total sausage fest, comprised of: Leon, Bakura, Marik, Enzi, and Rafael. While Lia's team had the rest: Rex, Mako, the copper haired girl (Serenity), Zephyr, and Sun. While I was a bit bummed to have been put against Rex, I was glad that at least Enzi was with me, although I didn't really know him that well.

"So what do you want us to do?" This voice was unfamiliar; it belonged to Sun, who was now standing, along with the rest of Team Beta, around Lia's table.

"Well, now that you've been split into two nice teams, I'm going to take my leave."

"You're going to what?" Rex snarled.

Pegasus shrugged. "I'm going to leave. For this next part, you don't really need me." He headed towards the door and opened it up. Standing behind the door was Kemo, with a large steel box in his arms that he was struggling to let Kemo in and allowed the man to drop the large case on the ground two meters in front of the door and just behind where my team was sitting.

Kemo stood again and barked out orders. "Team Alpha sit on the right and Team Beta, sit on the left." Each team did as it was told and occupied the right and left edges as ordered. Then Kemo spoke again. "Team leaders please come stand in front of the box."

I rose out of my seat and so did Lia, and we both slowly made our way towards Kemo. I could feel my neck sweating as I looked at the box; Lia looked very nervous as well. Kemo crouched down in front of the box and opened the latch in the center only to reveal a three digit lock.

"This box has a password that only Lia and Serafina are authorized to know," Kemo announced.

"What happens if we tell someone?" Lia asks innocently. "Is that against the rules?"

Kemo shook his head. "I can only tell you and Serafina this information, but what you choose to do with it afterwards is your choice." Lia nodded and Kemo proceeded to enter the password.

_4 … 5 … 9_

I committed those numbers to memory, unsure of what we needed them for. I then watched him open the box slowly, my breath catching in my throat when I realized what was inside: weapons -and lots of them. The polished silver glinted in the fluorescent light. There were spears, swords, axes and a variety of sharp things that only served to heighten my anxiety. One look at Lia's face told me she was thinking the exact same thing I was.

"Wha-" I choked on the words. "What are we supposed to do with this shit?" I sputtered, taking a step away from the box. "Why the fuck are you giving us this stuff?" Everyone's curious eyes shot towards me, likely wondering what had caused my extreme reaction.

Kemo said nothing. He simply closed the crate again and scrambled the numbers on the lock. He stepped away from us and towards the door, and I wasn't sure whether to keep my eyes on him or the enormous collection of dangerous objects on the floor right in front of me.

Once at the door, he said one more thing that answered one question and brought up another one. "Here are the rules of the game:

  1. Once the lights go out, the game begins.
  2. You are not allowed to speak once the lights are out.
  3. The lights will only be off for five minutes.
  4. When the lights come back on, you may speak but you may not hurt one another.
  5. You are never allowed to hurt one of your own teammates.



If any of these rules are broken, you will be given one warning. The second offense results in expulsion.

Is everything clear?" No, everything was _not_ clear, but nobody wanted to say anything, especially after listening to the confusing and slightly threatening set of rules we had been presented with. Kemo didn't seem to care that nobody had answered him as he said the last menacing statement. "The goal of this game is for one team to successfully kill the second team."

I shuddered involuntarily upon hearing those chilling words. Lia still hadn't said a word, her face as pale as a sheet as she stared at the ground. "Kill? What do you mean by that?" I asked, my voice shaking. "I don't want to kill anyone. This has to be a joke!"

Kemo might as well have told me to go fuck myself for all the attention he paid me. It was as though he were a toy that had said all it had to say and was now turned off. He retreated through the door and shut it behind him. Like a spring released from tension, I dashed to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. Following my example, Rex, Mako, Enzi, and even Marik all ran up to the door and tried to open it.

"Let us out of here, you bastard!" Rex howled, slamming his fists into the door.

Marik groaned as he pulled away from the door and punched a nearby wall. "It's no use! We're trapped."

I couldn't help but turn to the youngest person in the room, Leon, whose eyes looked like they were watering. He met my gaze and grimaced, wiping his face against his sleeve to hide his tears. "What's gonna happen to us? He was joking right?" he said.

Serenity from Team Beta clutched the table so tightly her fists looked white. "Pegasus can't force us to kill each other. We just have to refuse."

"This is messed up! Bringing kids into this!" Enzi growled. "But the girl's right. He can't force us to do anything."

Marik's face soured. "You're acting like we can just trust each other not to kill one another." I could see him looking in Team Beta's general direction.

Zephyr snarled at Marik, meeting his icy gaze with a frigid look of his own. "Hey, we're not the ones who killed Lorna." He only calmed down when Sun put a hand on his forearm

"Don't say her name!"

"Malik, that's enough!" Serenity cried.

And with that, the lights went out.

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Solitary Deep Sea Fish - Umineko No Naku Koro Ni]_

* * *

I wish I could say that when the lights came on, everything was still the same -that we were still the same angry group of twelve people who had no idea what was going on. It felt like cold water being dumped all over my body when the lights finally came back on. Some of us were still still in the same places that we were in when they went out, and some had panicked and changed places.

During the blackout, I couldn't bring myself to utter a single word. It was, after all, against the rules. Aside from some startled gasps, everybody else seemed to have followed the rules as well. I did hear, however, a panicked cry come from my team which sounded a lot like Leon. I also heard Lia yelp in fright as well, although it seems both perpetrators seemed to immediately remember the rules that Kemo had laid out. Rule Two was, "You are not allowed to speak once the lights are out."

It is with my deepest regrets and sorrow, nonetheless, that I tell you how utterly fucked everything turned out to be. Serenity was the first to scream when the lights came back on -or was it Leon? I couldn't even tell because their screams just blended into each other. I think I was the third person to scream, though I couldn't really recall hearing my own voice, just feeling the wind passing through my aching vocal chords.

"What the fuck!" was the first thing out of Rex's mouth.

After a certain point, though, I stopped really listening to how everyone reacted and instead looking straight ahead at the gory sight in front of me. For whatever reason, it looked like someone had taken Pegasus's game entirely seriously. I couldn't even breathe as I tried to make sense of it.

Lia was dead.

And not only that, but she had been murdered -of that, we all had no doubt. Her remains dangled from a short silver spear, which protruded from her gaping mouth. Whoever had killed her had pinned her to the leftmost wall like a butterfly. Her eyes were tightly shut and she looked like she had suffered quite a lot of pain before she died. Some of her blood, which was still wet, spilled out of her mouth and onto her dress.

I didn't want to look at her poor deformed face, stretched wide open by the metal rod, but I just couldn't look away. Someone had _killed_ Lia. One of _us_ killed Lia. How could I even begin to process that?

"Where did that thing come from?" Marik exclaimed, immediately taking charge of the situation. "Which one of you brought a weapon in here?" Naturally, nobody answered him.

Just then, I recalled the chest sitting on the ground beside me. It was closed, just as Kemo had left it, but hadn't it been filled with weapons? "I think I know where it came from," I informed Marik, dropping to the ground and entering the three-digit pin to open the case. I lifted the top and gaze down. "There's one missing…" I mumbled under my breath, upon noticing a compression in the memory foam lining the case, which looked like it once held a spear much like the one that was currently… well, you know…

A tanned arm pushed me aside gently. Mako's brow furrowed as he looked down into the case. "There are weapons in here!" he gasped. "So that's where the spear came from!"

I rubbed my arm anxiously as I watched the remaining ten individuals crowd around the steel case to look at the contents. There were various other remarks of anger and confusion from everyone around me. I had already seen the contents of the case so I didn't say anything, simply opting to skulk to the side and try to avoid staring at the dead girl.

Sun was the first to move away from the box, her long legs taking her towards Lia; I watched her warily, just in case she decided to pull anything. She then looked directly at me and scoffed. "So which one of you was it, huh?"

"How do we know it wasn't you?" Marik bit back.

She put a delicate finger through her hair and pushed it away from her eyes. "She's my team leader. I'm not allowed to kill her even if I wanted to. Nobody on Team Beta killed her. None of us stand to benefit from her death. So Zephyr, Serenity, Mako, Rex and I are all innocent."

I glared at her. "Are you saying someone on Team Alpha did it?"

She clicked her tongue. "That's exactly what I'm saying." She turned towards Mako and said, "Mako, you and Rex ran to the door just before the lights went out, which means you had a clear view of the weapon crate, right?"

Mako looked uncomfortable, but nodded. "Yes, but didn't you say we were innocent?"

"You _are_ innocent. I just want to make sure of something," she reassured him in her cold and calculating manner. "Was the crate open or closed?"

"I… I can't recall," Mako mumbled.

"It was closed," I interrupted.

"Well, you're a suspect, so I'm sure you understand why I'd have a hard time believing anything you have to say," Sun replied.

I was about to insult her entire lineage for even suggesting that I may have had something to do with the murder, but Rex spoke first. "It was closed," he said bluntly. "I saw it."

Sun smirked, which looked quite sinister when she was in such close proximity to a corpse. "Well, then let's go to the next point."

"Next point?"

"The password lock on the crate. Only Lia and Serafina knew the password, correct?" she asked nobody in particular. "Team Beta, did Lia tell any of you the password?" Her entire team sombrely shook their heads, unsure of what to say. "Serafina, did you tell anyone in Team Alpha the password?"

I shook my head rigidly, part of me already piecing together what she was getting at. "I didn't have time to tell anyone the password. We all started banging on the door right after Kemo left and after that, I didn't talk to anyone on my team."

"Then I think it's obvious who did it," Sun spat. "Only one person could have opened that lock and had the motive to kill Lia."

I opened my mouth to defend myself when Rex stomped over to her. "That's enough, Sun! Sera didn't do this. Sure she had the password, but she didn't do this! I know her! She wouldn't kill anyone! Especially not like… like that!" He pointed towards Lia's corpse.

"How well do you even know her?" Sun shot back. "Maybe she's exactly the type to snap under pressure and kill other people. After all, it's only fair to assume that after dying once already, she's pretty fucked in the head."

I felt like an insect under a magnifying glass. I couldn't move or breathe, much less speak. It felt like I was drowning in cement. Why couldn't I even defend myself? Was it because she was right? No, I may have had my issues, but blacking out and murdering people was not one of them. I also remembered the blackout clearly, so there was no way I had done something like that; I hadn't even gone near the crate. Unfortunately, Sun was right about one thing: I was the only person with the opportunity to obtain that weapon.

"You wanna prove your friend innocent, then prove that someone else could have done it," Sun told Rex sternly. "Otherwise, can it."

"Sh-She's right," I said weakly.

"You did it?" Rex cried out incredulously.

"No!" I objected. "I didn't! But… if I didn't do it, then it's impossible for her to be dead!"

Just then, a suggestion came from the place we least expected it to -Leon. "Actually, there is one way that it could have been someone else."

"What do you mean?" Sun asked.

Leon looked at his feet nervously. "Well, I mean, what if… What if Lia was the one who opened the crate?"

"Why would Lia open it?" she replied, and I was just relieved that all her attention was now focused on Leon.

"Maybe she thought someone on Team Beta wanted her to open the crate for them… and so she opened it, but it was actually someone from Team Alpha who wanted to kill someone during the blackout. Lia was the easiest person to kill, because they had already asked her to open it, so she was already close to them… All the killer needed to do was to push her against the wall and do it…" he explained somewhat reluctantly. I could tell he knew he was casting doubt on himself and the rest of his team, but I was thankful that he had offered up a new perspective on the murder.

A long sigh was let out by Zephyr who crossed his arms and surveyed the group. "Well, looks like we're back at square one, huh?" I winced. The way he said it almost made it seem like he _wanted_ me to be the culprit, but he was right. We weren't any closer to solving this murder.


	4. Distrust

_[Soundtrack: Distrust - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc]_

* * *

We were still arguing about the dead body hanging on the wall, when a speaker crackled to life. None of us had really expected there to be a speaker installed in the room, but knowing Pegasus, that was a foolish assumption to make. The sound of the static startled us all to silence as we stood like statues, scattered around the room, waiting for something to happen next.

"Hello? Is this thing on?" It was Pegasus's voice of course. Remember a couple of chapters ago when I had no idea why everyone hated that guy's guts? Yeah I'm gonna have to redact that statement now. He cleared his throat before speaking again. "Well, well, folks. I knew you would start killing each other eventually, but I didn't think it would happen this soon. I guess when you're already dead, this stuff doesn't faze you anymore. Who knew?"

"Cut the crap, Pegasus!" Mako snapped, and I was quite taken aback to hear him so angry when all he had ever shown me were his calm and playful sides. "None of us could have done something so cruel! What kind of trick are you trying to pull?"

I bit my lip in surprise, finally realizing what Mako was implying. "I bet you killed her yourself!" I added. "Or she's some kind of actress you hired since none of us even know her!" I had no idea if Pegasus could hear us, but the intercom had been silent throughout our outbursts, so I could only assume he was hearing us out.

As soon as my mouth shut, the sound of Pegasus's laughter rang out through the room, echoing against the hard metal walls. "You all think I killed her or hired her? Is that it?"

My eye caught Sun's, and she frowned; it was evident that part of her still struggled with the idea of me being innocent, and I wouldn't blame her if she kept my guilt as an option until a more probable alternative could be found. "Yeah, we think you did," she said. "You did it to get us to start killing each other. We… we may not all be good people. But none of us are killers."

After a moment, he spoke again. "Is that so, Sun? You're no saint, but you're also no liar…"

"What are you saying?" Zephyr jumped to Sun's defense. "Sun didn't kill Lia, that's for sure."

Pegasus scoffed. "Young Zephyr, now what gave you that idea? I know exactly who of you killed Lia, but I'm not about to spoil the fun. The best part of a detective novel is finding out who the killer is before the reveal, so I'm gonna give you twelve hours of fun. How does that sound?" He sounded way too excited about that idea, and it honestly pissed me off.

"Y'know what, asshole! No, we're not gonna do your stupid detective thing. We're gonna find a way out of here and we're gonna call the coast guard on your ass." I hollered at the ceiling.

"The coast guard?" Pegasus chuckled. "My! You're bold, Serafina. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you exactly why you need to do this. Suffice it to say, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. You won't have to stay in this room if you don't want to, however. From this point on, you're free to leave. The submarine's facilities are open to you, and I will have Kemo show you all to your rooms. All I ask is that you come back to this meeting room in 12 hours. Capiche?"

"No, you bastard!" Zephyr yelled out again. "We just told you we're not interested in playing out your sick murder mystery fantasies. This ain't Danganronpa. Go get your kicks somewhere else!"

"And you don't care that one of the people in this very room is a murderer?" Pegasus asked, his voice sounding more teasing than threatening. "Well, if you say so."

"We already told you!" I retorted. "This is all a trick! She's probably not even dead!" At that, I turned on my heel and stomped towards the corpse. She hadn't been up there for very long, but she still didn't smell right. I held my breath and grabbed her wrist, lifting it into the air. It was cold was stained with blood. I tried to find her pulse point and gagged at the sensation of my fingers running over her blood vessels and muscles, which were very easy to trace in her slender hands were shaking and it was hard to get a real reading for her pulse.

"Well?" Sun demanded from across the room. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was glaring at me. Her face was slightly paler than it usually was, which led me to think that maybe she was more afraid than she was trying to make us think. "Is she alive?"

I didn't really know what to tell her. The girl was as cold as ice, but I couldn't find her pulse in her wrist. The only other points i was aware of were near her jaw and between her legs, and they weren't exactly places I was keen on touching -one being covered in blood, and the other being -well -between her legs. "I can't find it… I can't find her heartbeat. I… I don't know? Maybe I'm just shit at biology and I can't find it?"

Just then, a small voice spoke up. "Let me." Serenity was moving away from her spot at the table and coming towards me.

Marik's whole body lurched towards her. "Serenity, no -"

"I'm fine, Marik," she told him, with a smile. She was closer to Lia than he was, at any rate. She gently took Lia's hand out of mine, not even bothered by the blood. Gently, she pressed her thumb against the inside of the girl's wrist and paused. After a moment of everyone watching her with bated breath, she spoke again. "She has no pulse. I'm no doctor, but I think she's…"

"Don't overthink it, Serenity," Pegasus interrupted. "She's dead. It's exactly like I told you."

"And how did you do it, then, Pegasus?" I snarled. "Is that why you had the lights turned off? So that we wouldn't be able to find out that you or one of your goons killed her?"

The intercom let out a distorted sound as Pegasus sighed in exasperation. "If you're going to keep insisting that I'm the one behind this, it's no fun, now is it? I didn't want to do this, but here are some clues to help you piece together this mystery. Listen carefully, because I'll only say this once." I looked around the room to see if anyone wanted to yell some more at Pegasus; I was always up for more yelling, but it didn't seem like anyone else shared that sentiment, as they all stood wordlessly, wanting to hear what the man had to say.

"Now, everything I am about to say is completely true. Whether or not you choose to believe me is up to you. I cannot very well use the Red Truth to confirm my words, but it can be implied. First of all, Lia is dead for all intents and purposes. Someone in this room killed her. Whoever killed her is not hiding somewhere; they are in plain sight. There are no secret passageways leading in or out of the room. The only door to this room is the one you all entered from, and it was locked up tightly by Kemo. After Kemo left, nobody entered or left the room by any means. For reference, there are only twelve people in this room: Enzi Nye, Leon von Schroeder, Lia Bennett, Mako Tsunami, Marik Ishtar, Rafael Rutherford, Rex Raptor, Ryou Bakura, Serafina Vasquez, Serenity Wheeler, Sun Kwon, and Zephyr Song.

"One of the people in this room is a murderer. It's not me, and it's not Kemo. It's not even one of your guests. It's one of you. You have twelve hours to find more clues of your own and deduce the identity of the true murderer, after which you will have to come back to this room. Good luck, and remember, it's against the rules to kill anyone when the lights are on."

With that ominous last statement, the speaker shut off and it was dead silent in the room. Maybe "dead" wasn't the most appropriate term for this unique situation, but there really isn't another word for "so quiet that you couldn't even hear others breathing" Something was different, however, and I and everyone else took in Pegasus's words, the very same urgency that had ignited upon first laying eyes on Lia returned. We all had our ideas of who was definitely innocent, and I could personally vouch for Rex and myself, but how well did I know Mako or Enzi? They were nice guys sure… but murderers? It wasn't exactly impossible.

Growing conscious of my proximity to Lia's corpse, I promptly jumped away and scampered over to Rex's side, where he put a protective hand on my shoulder. "We should get out of here," he said in a hushed voice, although it was so still in the room that he might as well have announced it on the intercom.

"I'd be careful with that one," Sun spoke up, clearly addressing Rex. "She's from team Alpha." What she didn't say, is how I was the most likely person in the room to have killed Lia, but it was definitely implied.

"Yeah, I'll take my chances," Rex glared back at her. "Let's go, Sera."

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Hologramm - Ever17]_

* * *

True to Pegasus's word, we found the door to the meeting room had been unlocked, and after wandering aimlessly through corridors that seemed more like dark tunnels, we found Kemo. He looked like he had been waiting for us to emerge and promptly gave us each a map of the submarine and told us to take good care of it. The maps looked like they had been newly laminated and the layout of the vessel was clearly outlined with the names of different regions written in block letters.

"What about Weevil?" Rex had asked him. "Will we be able to see him again?"

Kemo's face was a mask of complacency, making it hard to figure out exactly what he meant when he replied, "Everyone will be reunited as soon as Pegasus's challenge is completed."

Rex and I wanted to press him further, but he didn't look like he was about to divulge anything further, so we gave up for the moment and decided to find our own rooms. In spite of there being two teams, Alpha and Beta, it seemed like the room assignment did not really have much to do with our team allegiances. There were six rooms on the left side of the sleeping quarters and six on the right side; each room had a plate with the occupant's name on it and the rooms were assigned in alphabetical order by our first names, with Enzi being the first room on the right and Leon being the first room on the left. A benefit of this layout was the fact that Rex and I ended up with our rooms right next to each other.

We each had our own rooms, if you could call them rooms, that is; they were actually more like broom closets or prison cells than actual rooms. Rex and I entered his room first and noted the fact that it was exactly large enough for one twin-sized bed sitting against the left wall, a minuscule dresser and a small bathroom at the back of the room, separated only by a sliding glass door. The decor, while thankfully not resembling a prison cell, was still minimalistic with a rather bright, pearly, futuristic kind of reminded me of an airplane bathroom, the way it was much brighter inside than it was outside.

We discovered that Rex's belongings were already inside his room. We had been ordered to leave them on the surface of the sub, so it seemed that Kemo and the rest of the submarine crew had managed to take our luggage to our rooms while we were meeting with Pegasus and panicking over Lia's death. It made me shudder to think that there was an actual crew that was paid to oversee whatever mindfuck Pegasus was trying to impose on all of us.

My room was identical to Rex's room, so I didn't bother to look too closely at it. Our room keys were in our dressers when we found them. It was also interesting to note that the doors all had auto-lock functions that were disabled when we found them; we couldn't find a way to enable them, though, so we would have to manually lock our rooms to explore the rest of the area available to us.

Our map led us to a public shower area with five showers available for everyone to make up for the lack of showers in our own rooms. In another area was the mess hall, which was both indicated by the map and the plate next to the door that read "Mess Hall", but we couldn't really get a good look inside as the door was firmly locked and wouldn't budge no matter how hard Rex and I tried.

It soon became evident, that all of the locations on the map were actually the only locations we could go, which struck us as a bit odd considering two facts: one - the submarine was enormous, there was no way the meeting room, shower room, dorms, and mess hall were the only locations on the sub; and two - there were other people on the sub aside from the twelve (or maybe the eleven) of us. Yet, aside from the dead-end hallway that led to the hatch on top of the submarine (and was now blocked off by another door) there were no exits. The only logical conclusion we could come up with, was the fact that there was a way out in the Mess Hall, which was why it was locked.

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Doc Mitchell Theme - Fallout: New Vegas]_

* * *

As we were ending our brief exploration and returning to the dorm area, we found Ryou, Marik, and Serenity gathered around one of the doors. I caught the sound of Marik angrily hissing, "I don't understand this! Did he somehow predict that Lorna would die before contacting us?"

"Did _who_ predict _who_ would die?" I asked as Rex and I approached them.

Serenity's eyes widened when she laid eyes on me and she gave me a tired smile. "Oh, Serafina, it's just you."

"Just call me 'Sera'," I said, waving pathetically as the two others gave us their own greetings. It was nice to see that they didn't actively suspect me for Lia's murder. Well, that and Marik and Ryou were on my team, so it wasn't like I was about to murder them or anything.

"We were talking about our friend," she told us with a sad smile. "Well, I… didn't really know her that well, but she was very dear to my friends, so I think… I would have been her friend, too, if… If things had been different."

Rex sighed and said, "You mean Lorna… that girl that um… passed away during the Battle City Finals?" While the Rex I knew was usually brash and unapologetic, he seemed to be tiptoeing around the topic of this dead girl, and I suppose that was understandable; he wasn't a complete asshole, after all. "I'm sorry about your loss," he mumbled.

"Y-yeah, me too," I added really quickly, scratching the back of my neck anxiously. "But, if you don't mind my asking, what does she have to do with this?"

"Everything," Ryou said quietly. "You two are also part of it, aren't you? Peten's plans…"

"Peten… The Dark Clown?" I asked slowly. "Well, I've never met the guy personally, but he shows up in my dreams. But I haven't seen him in a while, and lately, all I'm seeing is the same nightmare."

Rex nodded. "Same here. We, Sera and I, can't really go to the Inbetween like you guys. We've tried… but it just kicks us out."

Marik frowned. "You guys haven't been in there? At all?"

"Nope," I shook my head. "But I had dreams where I saw you guys in there. I saw you guys in the Solitude, fighting the Warden and each other. I didn't recognize you all out of your armor I guess. I still don't know who was who."

"That doesn't explain Lorna, though," Rex gently nudged. "Who was she?"

Serenity bit her lip and then answered. "I was her anchor, but the Warden destroyed her." I saw her shiver and shrivel up, only relaxing when Ryou put an arm around her shoulders. The two of them looked close and I wondered what kind of juicy love triangle shenanigans those three got up to when nobody was watching; though I guess now was hardly the time.

Marik sighed. "You've been having nightmares, too, haven't you?" he asked Serenity.

She nodded. "Yes; not every night, but once in a while, when I least expect it. I think it's because her soul was just so tightly tied to mine, I still feel her pain…"

"So your nightmares are about her?" I asked her. I had one more question, but I knew she wouldn't be able to answer it, and it would only make things weird, but I wondered if Rex would have the same nightmares if I died.

Serenity nodded. "I wish I could tell you what it all means, but the nightmares are so blurry, like I'm seeing them through a fog…"

"So Pegasus was going to invite her here?" Rex said, bringing the topic back on track. "He invited all the rest of us here, didn't he?"

"Yes, I believe he meant to invite her as well," Ryou answered. "He said as much when he told us about it during the Battle City Finals."

"It hadn't even been an hour since she'd been announced dead," Marik mumbled. "And yet that smug bastard was being a smartass about it. It's almost like he didn't consider her a human being."

Serenity took over for him and said, "We just find it a bit weird that even though one of us died, he was still able to have this dorm built to fit exactly all of us. In fact, if Lorna were alive, there would have been thirteen of us -an odd number, which would have meant that his game wouldn't have worked. It's obvious he knows more than he's telling us."

"But that doesn't make sense if each of us has an Anchor," I said. "Each dead person and their Anchor makes a pair, so that means it would have been even no matter what. Isn't it weirder that there's an even number of us when there should be an odd number?"

"Actually, no," Marik said. "But -"

"Marik," Rex spoke up, interrupting him. "Who are you anchored to, then?"

Marik smirked and shot back with, "What makes you think I'm the anchor?"

Rex gave him a fierce look of his own. "Only an anchor would have brothers and sisters from this dimension."

I lowered my head in contemplation, thinking back on the two moorish people who had been sitting next to Marik during the meeting. Come to think of it, Rex had introduced them to me as the three Ishtar siblings. I knew for a fact that my sisters didn't exist here, so Rex had a point.

Marik crossed his arms. "Yeah, that is true, but I'm still not the anchor. My situation is a bit different than yours in that I'm both an anchor and one of the people that were brought back to life in this dimension. My name is Malik, and I'm currently inhabiting the body of a boy named Marik from this world," he explained.

"So you didn't get your own body like the rest of us?" I asked, examining his body, almost like I expected to find some sort of drastic biological difference between us. I didn't know if I should consider him lucky or not that he ended up in the body of his alternate universe self. He didn't show up in the middle of nowhere and probably get arrested like the rest of us.

He shook his head.

"And what's the real Marik doing while you're walking around in his body?" Rex asked with a disdainful look in his eyes. "Seems pretty shifty that you're not letting him do any of the talking.

Malik grunted. "Actually, I have no idea where Marik's soul is. You see, Marik's body didn't just have one tenant when I moved in, but two. One of them is the one that put Mai in a coma and tried to kill all of us. The other is the real Marik. Problem is that the real Marik's soul was kicked out by the evil spirit, and I'm pretty much the only thing keeping it from going on a murderous rampage right now."

Serenity nodded and chimed in, "We've tried looking for him in the Inbetween, but it's been hard to find him."

"That's why this strange gathering comes at a very difficult time for us," Ryou added. "We must find the true Marik before he is lost forever."

Rex scoffed. "I mean you look pretty cozy in that body. Why would you want to find the owner?"

Marik's expression soured. "I suppose it would make sense if I wanted to keep this body for myself. It would certainly be more convenient, but consider what he is: my Anchor. If he's not around, then I can't stay in this realm; there would no longer be anything tying me to it."

"Anchor or no Anchor," Serenity snapped. "He's in trouble, so we have to save him."

Ryou looked at me with wide eyes like he'd just remembered something important. "Sera, you said you've been having dreams about the Inbetween and that you've seen some of us there. Perhaps you've seen Marik there yourself?"

Well, now I felt like a glorified security camera. Nonetheless, I tried to recall my most recent dreams. "Well, like I said, I've been having the same nightmare over and over again since you guys got out of the Solitude, but I do remember seeing a guy that looked like Marik in golden armor… But it could have been -"

Not even waiting for me to finish my sentence, Malik answered, "That was me."

"Right…" I continued slightly miffed at the interruption. "I didn't really see anyone else there that looks like you though."

The three of them were silent for a moment before Ryou said, "Well, thank you anyway." See? This guy knew manners. If the three of them actually did turn out to be in a love triangle, I was Team Ryou now.

"So what are you guys planning on doing until the time limit is up?" I asked, leaning up against the door that led to Enzi's room. It only then occurred to me that the room they were standing in front of was actually Lia's room.

Serenity sighed. "I'm actually a bit tired so I might go get some sleep."

"But it's still morning," I pointed out. "How could you be tired already?"

She shrugged and twiddled her fingers. "I haven't really been the same since Lorna died… I've been feeling sick and exhausted most days. I think it's supposed to pass eventually… Plus, with Lia being… well… It hasn't been a very relaxing morning."

I gave her a sympathetic frown. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"So who was Lia's Anchor?" Rex asked suddenly.

I was taken aback by his question as were the rest of the people in our company. That was a good point actually. I knew who Marik, Serenity, Mako, and Rex were anchored to, so those were eight people who were spoken for.

Ryou shuffled uncomfortably before responding. "I think she might be mine… Then again, I'm not quite certain, but… I felt something when she walked into the room, an enormous dark energy. As the element my soul represents is darkness, I can only assume the connection I felt to her would be due to that."

"Well, there you go," I told him. "But why aren't you sure?"

"Because I had that exact same connection with someone else I saw in the Inbetween, someone that looked nothing like Lia," he replied. "However, I can't possibly be an Anchor to both of them, can I?"

"Well, Lia's here; that other person isn't, right?" I remarked. "So Lia must the one you're actually anchored to." Sure Pegasus's whims weren't exactly the most reliable input for logical deduction, but it was really the only lead we had.

"It still begs the question of who that other person was… but I suppose it's not a very pressing issue at the moment, is it?" he said, smiling tentatively.

"Not really," I agreed, giving him a reassuring smile. "We still have to figure out who killed Lia. I mean, I know Sun and Zephyr are on Team Beta, but I don't trust them. It's not like Pegasus specifically set any kind of penalty for breaking his rules -"

"Actually, Sera, that's wrong," Rex reminded me. "Remember what Kemo said? The penalty for a first offense is a warning, and for the second offense, it's expulsion."

"Okay, so?" I questioned, still not really seeing his point.

"My point is," Rex replied, "that nobody on my team could have done it or we would have received a warning, and I don't think Pegasus is the type to break his own rules just to protect a killer. As suspicious as Sun and Zephyr are, it couldn't be them."

"Then how about Rafael?" Marik asked, "He's their buddy, isn't he? And he's on Team Alpha, so he definitely could have done it."

I shrugged and looked away from the group for a moment. "I don't know," I told them. "I didn't tell the password to that case to anyone. And wasn't there a rule about not being allowed to talk when the lights are off? How could he have gotten that password?"

"You realize you're saying that you're the killer, don't you?" Marik answered. "If neither you nor Lia told anyone the password, then you and Lia were the only ones who could have opened it."

"I- I know," I stammered. "I know I didn't do it, but I can't think of any other way… and it's just mindfucking the hell out of me. What if I did do it, but I didn't realize, or I was hypnotized into to doing it… or something…"

"Malik, did you bring the Millennium Rod here?" Ryou asked in a serious voice.

Malik glared at him. "If you're implying what I think you're implying, then no, I didn't use the Rod to get Sera to murder that girl. I gave that thing to Ishizu the first chance I got."

"Sorry; I had to ask," Ryou said. "This is just so baffling..."

The next words were spoken by Serenity and they tore this entire mystery a metaphorical new one. "Hey guys, remember what Leon said before? What if he's right? What if Lia was the one who opened the crate? What if she was the one trying to kill someone?" It was a theory that made having faith in each other possible again, and it was all thanks to the Anchor of Light -pretty fitting name, if you ask me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im mad because I finished this chapter like 3 weeks ago and kept procrastinating uploading it lmao  
> So here. Have your crappy chapter.  
> (Actually I did try to build up the mystery this chapter and I do hope you enjoy it. Please send a comment my way and maybe some kudos because it would mean a lot x3 thanks)


	5. Somnium II: New Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [insert half-assed twilight joke about the chapter title]
> 
> Hiya. I'm early today x) Hopefully these Somnium chapters don't seem too weird to you guys. I mean they will have plot relevance for sure. Plus they have some fun cameos ;)

_[Soundtrack: Little Rascal - Final Fantasy XII]_

* * *

The rebel faction, Sons of Hecate, is both a rowdy and a proud bunch. To the upper echelons of society, they hardly even exist, but their name carries a great deal of weight around middle and lower class members of society. They first officially came into existence when Shadow was just a young boy of perhaps four or five years old, scraping a living on the streets while his older brother worked as a scribe for the young Prince Dartz. Perhaps that was the reason that, even as a young boy, he had so utterly and completely despised the royal family. The Sons' one true goal is, and has always been, the fall of the Usurper Ironheart and the rise of the disgraced and true royal family to where they belong.

Shadow sits at the head of the table with a goblet of spirits and a murky disposition. His mind still hasn't adjusted to his surroundings and still hasn't come to accept them as truth. The leader of the Sons, a large man, known to his followers only by the pseudonym Thunderblade, roars with laughter as a prostitute settles in his lap and whispers in his ear. Shadow watches with a roll of his eye as his superior grips the smaller boy's torso towards him. Thunder is a large man, with shoulders twice as wide as any normal man and a height so great that most people thought he may have been a Titan. Needless to say, the slender-hipped prostitute is like a doll by comparison.

Evren is nowhere in sight, likely off doing whatever she and Rayan did when they were alone, so Shadow is without a distraction, staring into the bottom of his goblet and trying to make sense of his situation. He is completely certain that he is not alive, and he is completely certain that nobody around him should be alive either. Atlantis has fallen, but in this very room, it's more alive than he's seen in a long time.

He overhears an old man with speckled skin speaking firmly with a group of young, excited boys. "Now, now, settle down, you three!"

"C'mon, gramps!" one of them cries out. "You said you'd tell us the story of Hectatea if we did all our chores!"

"Yeah!" another whines; he seems to be the youngest of the group, as his voice hasn't matured yet. "I want to know about the Shadow Queen!"

At this, the old man realizes that Shadow is listening and turns around to give him a grin. "Looks like our very own Shadow King wants to hear the story as well," he says with a twinkle in his eye. "Come here, my boy. Maybe the youngsters can learn a thing or two from someone like you."

Shadow feels an unpleasant pang of pain when he looks into the man's eyes. This man was - _is_ Elder Stone; he's been a part of the Sons since before the movement even had a name or social standing. Officially, Stone isn't even a part of the Sons, he's merely aligned with them. Stone's allegiance lies with the Shadow King, and as long as the Shadow King is a part of the Sons, Stone would follow him. Stone had practically raised Shadow and his older brother from childhood, and Shadow would later watch him die, a memory which he is not so keen on reliving in such vivid clarity.

"Of course, Grandfather," Shadow replies, trying to hide the unease in his voice, something he had learned to be very good at over the course of his life. "I haven't heard that story in a while."

Stone chuckles, a soft and tired sound, before starting his story:

"Hecatea's history is a long one, soaked in blood and strife. Many years ago, before Shadow was born and before his grandfather or even great-grandfather was born, Hecatea was built by the Titan, Phoebe, as a home for her children. She placed her beloved Hecate at the head of the Hecatean Empire, to rule benevolently for all time. The struggles surrounding Hecatea were born out of the jealousy of the sea king, Poseidon, who saw the beautiful Empire that Phoebe had built in the middle of his ocean, and sought to conquer it for his own children.

"Atlas, the elder, destroyed all of Hecate's altars and cursed all of her worshipers, casting them all to a fate worse than death. Hecate herself never left the continent now known as Atlantis. She eventually took a human husband and bore his child, spending her days hidden between the mortals. The legends say that she still roams the Aperture, guiding her followers to paradise after their passing.

"Hecate's daughter, Scylla, was the first Shadow Queen, a demi-goddess as fierce as she was beautiful. When she learned of her mother's exile, she sought to defeat Atlas and his children and take her place on the throne of the Empire. Her dream was to restore her mother's beautiful empire to what it once was. She led a small group of her followers to the royal temple to protest the Atlantean rule and kill the Prince of Atlantis, a demi-god named Glaucus.

"Glaucus and his men slaughtered Scylla's followers; however, upon laying eyes on the Shadow Queen, he was stunned by her beauty and fell madly in love with her, much to the ire and disappointment of Scylla's treacherous half-sister, the sorceress known as Circe. Circe had been in love with Prince Glaucus and wanted to marry him and become the new Queen, as was her birthright as one of Hecate's daughters. Unfortunately, her jealousy and rage took over, and when the young Scylla went to bathe in the ocean, Circe enchanted the stones on the ocean floor and created the very first Orichalcos stones.

"As you all know, Orichalcos stones are full of very powerful magic, which, if not handled prudently, can cause ruin to fall upon its user. Therefore, Scylla, now bathing on an entire floor made of Orichalcum, began to mutate, her heart and body so filled with the dark magic of the Orichalcos and the rage of her sister, that the poor girl turned into a fearsome sea creature.

"After that, never again did the Shadow Queen come out of hiding. Young Shadow is one of Scylla's descendants and the would-be heir to the Hecatean throne, had the Atlantean usurpers not taken over. Ironheart and his son, Dartz, are the direct descendants of Glaucus and Circe. And this is why we fight -to avenge our queen and recreate the Hecatean Utopia as Phoebe once dreamt it would be."

"Oy," the third boy calls out. "If Shadow's the true King of Hecatea, why's he just a captain in the Sons and not High Commander like Thunder?"

Upon hearing his own name, Shadow perks up again, having lost himself in the story of the continent's past. He may be a prince, but he certainly doesn't feel that way at that moment. He lets Stone answer this inquiry for him. "Well, Shadow may be quite a formidable man, but he has much to learn, isn't that right, Shadow?"

Shadow forces a crooked smile. "That I do. Besides, you little runts got a problem with Thunder, huh?" he teases, raising his voice.

"No!" the boys squeak in unison; the mere image of Thunder in any state other than boisterous laughter sends a shiver down their spines.

Shadow lets out a loud, frightening laugh, his first laugh since he woke up in Atlantis many hours ago. It has been a long day for him, and he has spent it following the motions and trying to let his memories guide him through the day. This day, oddly enough, isn't like anything he remembered, and yet could be almost identical to any other day he had lived once upon a time. It was as though someone had worked very hard to create a completely unique day that would not at all be remarkable in comparison to the ones in his memories.

"Well then! You boys should be getting to bed, or I'll tell Thunder that you're all slacking!" he threatens lightheartedly, standing up and towering above the trio. Shadow isn't nearly as tall as Thunder, but he is an undoubtedly large man himself, which, coupled with his youthful good looks, makes him quite a target for all the young singles -not that he'd ever given much serious thought to any long-term attachments such as lovers, when brief flings suited him just fine.

The three boys, Alan, Kirmik, and young Jimto, quickly straighten their backs before the captain and scurry out of the dining hall. When Shadow turns to face Stone again, the old man's face is set in a very concerned and thoughtful expression.

"You do not look well, my son," he remarks.

Shadow frowns. "You can tell?" Of course, he can.

Stone chuckles. "Do you think I cannot see when you're trying to put on a brave face?" He pats the seat next to him and urges Shadow to come and sit. "Now, tell me what is troubling you?"

Shadow smirks darkly, unsure of what to tell the man or even where to begin. "It's… truly nothing, Grandfather. I have just been having trouble breathing today… I think I'm getting a bit ill." It isn't a complete lie. As a matter of fact, his breathing has been shaky throughout the day, but he simply attributed this feeling to being unaccustomed to Atlantean air after all these years. The rest of his tale would be quite far fetched -perhaps even too far fetched for Stone to believe, so Shadow elects to keep it to himself.

A warm smile shows from beneath the thick whiskers on Stone's top lip. "Perhaps it would be best if you retired for the night in that case," he suggests.

Shadow smiles back and replies, "And miss this rousing feast?"

Just as the words come out of his mouth, Evren saunters over to the two of them with a giant pork leg in one hand. She nibbles comically at it as she approaches. "Princey!" she calls out. "Boy, have my spies got a _juicy_ one for you!"

He cocks his head to the side and tells her, "If it's been in your mouth, then I don't want it."

She huffs and takes a large bite out of her pork leg before replying, "I'm not talkin' about food. I'm talkin' about Poseidon's Torch being lit right now." Shadow shakes his head when he realizes that Evren hadn't caught on to his innuendo, but decides to let it go for the moment.

"What?" Shadow snaps, immediately taken out of his playful and calm mood. Poseidon's Torch is an enormous tower in the very center of the Atlantean capital, Cyrktos. The city's center is symbolically dedicated entirely to the worship of Poseidon and his offspring, so naturally, that is where temples are all located, as well as the royal palace, and where King Dartz lies with his queen and his daughter. The Torch is located within the massive royal estate and is the highest structure in all of Atlantis. It is only lit, however, during times of great blessing and times of great struggle, and with Dartz sending his army to conquer every piece of land their boots touched, the continent has seen more struggles than blessings.

"Have your spies managed to figure out who is invading us?" Stone asks very seriously.

To that, Evren shrugs and takes another bite out of her meat. "I actually don't think it's a war this time."

"What do you mean?" Shadow inquires, leaning forward in his seat. "What else could be happening?"

"From what I heard…" Evren says slowly, as though she were trying to recall the report. "And mind you, I was drunk when I was briefed." Shadow rolls his eyes. "The entire royal family is gonna be at the Grand Temple of Atlas until morning. Whatever happened, bad or good, it was big."

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Ominous Calm - Yu-Gi-Oh! Sound Duel Vol. 2]_

* * *

Dartz kneels calmly by the temple's altar with his wife, Iona, as they asked for blessings and forgiveness from their ancestors. When he hears the soft voice of one of his advisors clearing his throat, he looks up. "Zaleon," the King greets. "Have you any news from the physician? Has she awakened?"

Zaleon bows before his king, his head nearly touching the ground in its attempt to remain lower than the King's own head. "Yes, my lord. The girl has awakened. She is with a priest now, and he is dressing her for the ceremony. She should be ready in only a moment or two."

Dartz gets to his feet, pulling Iona up with him. "Tell them not to keep us waiting long," Iona commands, her voice lilting, but firm. Zaleon simply nods, shuffles to his feet, and rushes out of the room, his cloak billowing behind him, leaving them alone in the chapel.

The presbytery was the largest of all the temples. It was a round chamber with an altar at the very center and stone pews surrounding it, each row rising higher as it got farther away from the center. The doors to the chapel were incredibly large and were marked by a large gap between the pews; they were decorated with translucent crystals which, given enough sunlight, left colorful patterns on the floor and across the aisle.

"Could she truly be the one from the prophesy?" Dartz murmurs. "Does this mean that Atlantis's destruction is close at hand?"

"Father?" a small voice interrupts him. It came from a small girl, no older than ten years old, with soft brown hair, braided and intertwined with silk; she was dressed in white, decorated robes.

"Kriss," Dartz crouches to meet his daughter's eye. "Why aren't you with your nurse?"

Kriss frowns. "I want to see her, too," the girl says in an unwavering voice. "I want to see the goddess, too."

He reaches towards his daughter to stroke her face and move a strand of her hair out of her eyes. "You will meet her, then, darling."

"Tell me about the goddess again, Father," she pleads, hopping up and down on her tiny legs.

Dartz smiles tenderly and gently ruffles the top of her head. "Alright, then. I will." Iona gives him a nod of acknowledgement, telling him that she's listening as well. "The goddess of the prophecy, meant to save Atlantis from ruin and destruction, is a beautiful goddess. They say, her face looks different to everyone who sees her, and anyone who gazes upon her, sees the face of the most beautiful woman they could ever see."

Kriss nods enthusiastically and says, "Tell me about her magic and her glory!"

With a chuckle, the King replies, "I was just getting to that part! Settle down there!" He then begins to weave the tale for her. "It is said, Luna, the goddess of the moon, has been watching Atlantis from the moment it was created by Poseidon many millennia ago. By her will, she made the skies rain, and from her eyes she created the stars in the sky." Dartz straightens up and lifts his child into the air, hoisting her up on his shoulders; he then points to the skylight and at the black, moonless sky. "Do you see that, my darling? The moon has fallen from the sky and she is here to protect us."

Iona tenses, and cranes her neck to look at the sky as well. "I think that's enough of these tales. We do not even know if this woman is truly the goddess or not."

He gently places his daughter on the ground again and stares intently at his wife. "That is not even a question, my queen. The priests found this woman dead -a _corpse_ at their doorstep -and within a night, she was completely healed of all her wounds. Only an immortal -a true titan -could accomplish such a feat. Don't you agree?"

"Father," Kriss squeaks. "If it's really Luna, will she help me get better?"

Iona's heart sinks as she waits for her husband's reaction. Her husband has always gotten carried away in tales of titans and gods, and it is just like him to get swept up in the idea of a goddess coming to bring his empire glory and riches. However, could he simply promise such a thing to their daughter without a second thought?

On the day that Kriss was born, the palace was set on fire by the Sons of Hecate. While Iona and Kriss survived that night, Kriss suffered complications due to the toxic smoke, and has had a weak body ever since; she becomes easily ill and thus, never leaves the house. Aside from her pet hound, she does not have companions as children are full of disease. The royal physician claimed that she would not live to adulthood, and with their time running out, Iona and Dartz have been trying to have another heir, and yet, it is as though Iona's womb would refuse to carry after birthing Kriss. Part of Iona hopes that this woman is exactly who they believe she is; perhaps she would be able to heal her womb as well…

From behind Dartz, the large door leading into the presbytery bursts open and several high priests from all parts of the continent stand at attention surrounding what seems to be a very small woman, covered from head to toe in white. Through the large bodies of the priests, it is difficult to see exactly what she looks like.

Zaleon strides through the doors and takes a seat in one of the back pews. He nods to the King before turning his gaze to the men in robes at the back of the aisle. Dartz bows his head to the priests and gently takes his wife and daughter's hands, leading them to the front row. As they ascend the steps to take their seat, the procession of priests along with the woman make their descent to the center of the room.

Once they are seated, Kriss whispers into her father's ear. "She's right there! The goddess! Luna!"

"Shh, Kriss," Iona warns, wrapping an arm around her daughter gently, her hand slowly massaging the small girl's shoulder in a slow, circular motion.

The priests begin to chant a prayer in unison, and Dartz watches the woman behind them shuffle nervously between them. From where he's sitting, he can see her more clearly, although her height isn't doing her any favors as he still can't see her face. He wonders what kind of girl this is or if she even knows how important she is. He recalls Zaleon mentioning earlier that the girl remembers nothing of her past, not even her name. How curious… for a goddess.

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Facing the Truth #2 - Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movie OST]_

* * *

"Careful, or we'll get caught!" Evren grumbles, although her voice is more likely to get them caught than anything else as they scaled the Grand Temple of Atlas under the cover of night. It had been heavily guarded, but the two of them aren't strangers to stealth, and using brute force when necessary.

Shadow grunts as he heaves himself up to the skylight giving him a full view of the ceremony in the presbytery beneath him. The enormous hall is big enough for hundreds of people, but on this night, the only people there are the royal family, their advisor, and several priests. In the center of them, however, is a girl. He can't quite see her properly, but somehow, looking at her is like a giant gulp of fresh air, like a weight's been lifted off of his shoulders, and he can't look away. This same sensation causes unease to creep down his back as well.

"Your royal majesties," the priest directly facing the royal family speaks up. His voice is booming and carries all the way up to where Shadow and Evren are sitting.

"Oh, perfect! We haven't missed the good bits!" Evren hisses with a mad grin on her face. She scratches the top of the coiled mess on her head and holds one of the metal bars attached to the window to keep herself steady.

Shadow leans in further to hear the ceremony over the sound of Evren's excited breathing; he can't hear much, but he doesn't need to. He can see the Princess wiggling anxiously in her seat while the Queen holds her tightly. Dartz, however, is the most interesting to watch; the King is visibly tense, his hands balled up in fists, paying no attention to his wife and daughter. His eyes are clearly fixed solely on the girl, because why would he be looking at the priests, after all?

Shadow's eyes begin to water from the concentration and he leans back, holding on to the bars so as not to fall, and his mahogany eyes reflect the stars in the heavens as he breathes in a deep breath. One thing gives him pause, however.

"Evren," he mumbles quietly, but the woman doesn't hear him, dangling her legs through the bars of the skylight and looking into the chapel with an absent-minded look on her face that was practically asking the gods to destroy her where she sat. So he repeats himself, but a bit louder. "Evren."

"Huh?" she replies, turning to look at him, and he could have sworn there was drool on her face. "What is it?

Shadow lifts one hand to point at the sky. "I think I know exactly what's going on down there?"

"Y'do?" she asks. "'Cause I've been lost for a good while."

He sighs, wondering how this woman could be both the most intelligent person he knows as well as the absolute stupidest person he knows. "Look at the moon!"

She does, and it doesn't take long for her brows to furrow. "Are you saying…" She looks back down into the room. "That small thing down there… that's supposed to be…"

"The moon goddess, Luna. That's exactly what I'm saying," he replies.

Evren snorts. "Wonder if she's really pretty as people say. Best I don't meet her. Would be confusing if there were two of Rayan running around." She lets out a quiet chuckle. She and Rayan have been lovers for as long as Shadow has known her, and she took every opportunity to mention this fact. Perhaps she was as surprised as anyone that such a charming woman would end up with someone so… Evren.

Nevertheless, Evren presses her face to the bars to get a good look at the girl, and in spite of himself, Shadow does as well -partly out of curiosity and partly out of something else that he can't quite understand. His breath catches in his throat when he catches the girl looking directly up at him and Evren. She has a mask covering her face and a veil over her head so only her eyes are visible to him. He can't even move away from her gaze. Somehow, he knows she doesn't have it in her to inform the priests of the presence of intruders. He wonders if she can even see him clearly, though.

Her eyes move back forward as the priests open the protective circle they had formed around her and stand side to side with her at the very center, facing the royal family. Now that he can see her entire body, she looks like nothing more than a frightened girl, shaking like a leaf before the King. Then he sees something he doesn't expect; Dartz slips out of his seat to kneel on the ground, with his forehead touching the stone floor. The girl seems to be surprised as well, because her hand immediately shoots up in a dismissive gesture, but she lowers it before Dartz can see.

"Your Worship," the head priest says in a gentle but commanding voice. "Would you honor us by speaking to our King?"

"I…" It's quiet, but it's her voice. "Sure… I could… um…." The girl is stumbling over her words like a mere teenage girl. How could she really be a goddess? "Can I take this off?" she asks timidly, her hand tugging weakly at the mask on her face.

"She's takin' it off," Evren hisses, and Shadow can see her hands tightening around the bars. He can't help the quickening in his heart either. Is he truly about to see the face of a real goddess?

"Is that.. Wise, Your Worship?" the head priest offers gently. "It is true that the ones before you now are divine royalty, but I and my colleagues are mere followers. We are not worthy. Perhaps we should leave."

"I -" the girl starts to say before she is interrupted by the head priest again.

"It is as you wish it, Your Worship. We will take our leave now," he says, bowing his head and turning to leave. The rest of the priests mimic his action and soon, all of them filter out of the room, leaving the girl alone to stare at the royal family in silence.

The queen merely stares back unflinchingly at the girl, while Princess Kriss escapes her mother's arms and kneels beside her father. She is the only one brave enough to break the silence.

"Luna, thank you for coming to help us. I'm so glad you're here!" the child says, her voice full of hope and sincerity.

Upon hearing this, the goddess takes a few steps forward to bridge the gap between her and the girl. Although the princess is one step above Luna, the goddess can still look down upon her. Luna extends a pale arm towards the girl and touches her shoulder. "If I am able help you, then… I would be glad," she says in a tired voice, almost like she isn't convinced she can do anything at all, but Kriss hasn't caught on and beams at the woman in front of her.

With a giggle, Kriss says, "Papa says that you are the most beautiful woman in the world because you are a goddess! Can I see?"

Luna giggles, and the sound hits at Shadow's memory ever so slightly. He can't explain it, but it's a sound that he wants to hear again. "Careful, now, Princess. Your mother is already really beautiful; I don't think I can top that."

"Please, Luna!" Kriss insists, getting to her feet. The goddess is such a small woman that, although the step Kriss is standing on is less than a foot high, Kriss is already up to the woman's shoulder.

With a sigh and another one of those small musical laughs, Luna yields, "Alright then."

"Shadow?"

"Shut up, Evren," Shadow snaps breathlessly as his eyes follow Luna's hands.

She runs her fingers over the leather clasps on the sides and the mask begins to slip off of her face.

"Shadow."

"Shh… wait!" he scolds again, his eyes trying to catch the smallest glimpse of her.

And then he sees it.

"Shadow, you need to -"

"No…" he moans, his eyes not leaving the girl's face. "No, it can't be… Not her… This has to be a fucking joke…"

Evren tries to untangle her legs from the bars in the skylight as she reaches for Shadow. He's leaning so heavily onto the bars that she can see them wobbling beneath him. "Shadow…" she grumbles, trying to get to him without falling to her doom herself, but a loud snap tells her she's too late. "Sh-Shadow!" she cries out, not caring who hears her as the man tumbles headfirst through the skylight and into the room. She doesn't need to look to know that he isn't going to survive the fall.


	6. Crime Scene Investigation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know... sometimes I ask myself. Why do you write chapters and then leave them in your drive for a month before uploading them? And I honestly have no answer for that

_[Soundtrack: Drittes Auge Nehmen - Ever17]_

* * *

So, according to the clock on my phone (which was really only a glorified flashlight with a clock now that the submarine was underwater), it was 7:30AM when Malik, Rex, and I rushed back towards the meeting room where we had left Lia's corpse. The room was empty now, which made it all the more unsettling to find Lia still hanging on the wall. While her expression seemed terrified when she was first revealed, she looked more annoyed than anything, which, in all fairness, would be a valid emotion, I guess, if we were talking about a sentient being, but corpses had no feelings.

Malik let out a long sigh as he approached the girl slowly. "God, I can't imagine who would do this…"

"Well, it's gotta be from Alpha, right?" I said. "I mean, it's like Rex said, if the killer were from Beta, we'd have heard a warning."

Malik took a step away from Lia and began to slowly run his eyes over her body; searching her for clues or secret necrophilia fetish? You decide. "Okay, so that means our suspects are you, me, Bakura, Leon, Enzi, and Rafael, right?"

I nodded. "Pretty sure you and Bakura and I are innocent, so we can narrow down half of the suspects."

Malik raised his eyebrows. "Oh? You trust us now? We could be killers. I wouldn't count us out so soon."

"What are you saying?" I frowned. "Are you saying you killed her?"

He shrugged and leaned against the corner of the nearest table. "I'm saying that you don't know me. So I'm still a suspect. And as far as I'm concerned, you're still a suspect, too."

I glared at him. "Well, that's not very productive. If we don't decrease the number of suspects, we won't be able to come to any conclusions."

"Yeah, but we can't just cut people out of the suspect pool without any evidence. If we find out who the killer is, the proof needs to be airtight. We can't let a single thing slip," Malik remarked.

Rex, who had been quiet up until that point, shut his eyes and nodded. "Malik's right. Goin' by that, though. The only evidence we have so far is that either Lia or Sera opened the weapons crate, and that Pegasus didn't give a warning."

"And the method by which she was killed," Malik added. "Lia was impaled against a wall. Whoever killed her shoved that spear through Lia's mouth and then through the wall behind her. So whoever killed her wasn't just anyone. It had to be someone who is capable of thrusting a spear through that wall."

"Well, that depends on how easy it is to get a spear through a wall, doesn't it?" I inquired, stepping towards the wall and idly pressing against it with my fingers. "Wonder what this is made of…"

"Why don't we find out?" Malik suggested. "I think you should open the box and take another spear out."

I stood agape. We were in a room with a corpse, where someone took a weapon out of that box and used it to murder an innocent girl, and Mr Edgelord over here wanted me to take another murder spear out of the crate? "You're joking, right?"

"I'm being 100% serious," he replied, approaching the crate and kicking lightly it with the toe of his boot. "We need to find out how resilient that wall is."

I sighed and hugged my chest. "Can't we just… I don't know…. Use the one that's already out? I kinda don't wanna be responsible for putting another one of those things within reach of a murderer."

Malik sighed and glanced up at the ceiling as if asking some invisible deity why he had to put up with me, which was hypothetically rude and I couldn't believe that he was hypothetically saying those things about me. What a hypothetical asshole. "Look, if you wanna rip that spear out of her mouth, go for it. I, for one, however, don't want to mess with the crime scene or get blood on my clothes," he stated.

I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest, glaring at the floor. He had a point. I wasn't going to tell him that, but I wasn't going to refute him either. My lowered eyes did, however, spot something interesting on the floor. I uncrossed my arms and crouched down to inspect something small and black on the ground beside the crate.

"What did you find?" Rex asked.

I picked up what seemed to be a bobby pin and twirled it between my fingers. "Nothing," I mumbled back, inspecting my ponytail, only to find that what I had thought was a clue had simply just fallen from my head. "Just a shitty bobby pin that won't stay put."

"Yeah," Rex replied. "Not exactly a clue if everyone already knows you were standing there."

I hummed in agreement and was about to put the pin back in my hair when Malik cried out. "Wait! Sera!"

I held the pin in mid air, with my other hand still smoothing down my hair, getting it ready for pin penetration. "What?"

"Can I take a closer look at that?" he replied.

"This?" I held out the pin. "Uh sure," I said uncertainly.

He gingerly took the pin from my hand and held it in his palm. "This thing has blood on it," he noted, holding it out for me and Rex to inspect. Sure enough, Malik was right. It wasn't significantly bloodied, but it definitely looked like someone had picked it up with two bloody fingers as it was stained dark red. There was also a bit of red at the sharp tip where some of the plastic had broken off to show the metal underneath. There wasn't much contrast between the red and the black pin, which must have been why I missed it when I first noticed it. Ugh, gross; and I was gonna put that evidence in my hair.

"But who had bloody hands after the murder?" I asked. "I wasn't really paying attention, but I haven't washed my hands since she died," I admitted, slowly realizing how disgusting that probably was, especially since I was one of the _lucky_ few that actually touched Lia's body after she died.

"Lia did," Rex offered. "There's blood on her hands even now."

I bit my lip; that kinda fucked with our timeline of events though. "Didn't her hands get bloody while she was being killed though? When did she have the time to even hold my bobby pin? Besides, even if she was holding my pin while she was being killed, there are a lot of things wrong with that. First of all, if she's being held to a wall against her will, the last thing she would be holding would be a bobby pin."

"She could have just grabbed it to defend herself," he replied with a shrug. "It's small and kinda dangerous if you know where to hit people with it."

I sighed and shook my head. "That doesn't work though. Since it still would have had a lot more blood on it if she were holding it as she was being killed, especially since her hands are pretty bloody right now. Plus, I found this thing in the middle of the room, right next to the weapons crate. How could she have tossed it all the way over here after being impaled by a spear?"

"She's got a point," Malik agreed. "The pin is pretty interesting, though. It forces us to think about things differently. We can't deny that the pin exists, and though we don't know how it factors into everything, we can change our theories to fit the pin's existence. Any theory that doesn't mention it is now a wrong one."

"Right," I nodded and watched as Malik put the pin on the table.

"Unfortunately, Sera, this makes you a suspect again," he added with a half-regretful tone. At least you could tell that part of him didn't want me to the be the killer, despite the half of him that begrudgingly admitted that it was a great possibility.

"For what it's worth," Rex told him, "I've been with Sera the entire morning and didn't leave her side once. Though I didn't see her during the five minutes when the lights were out, I can definitely say that once they came on, I could see her the entire time. She never did wash her hands. If there were traces of blood on her hands, I would have seen them."

"She could have wiped it against her jeans, though," Malik pointed out. "Sorry, but I can't rule you out."

I nodded stiffly then told him, "Then I can't rule you out either. You're also a member of Team Alpha, which makes you just as much of a suspect as I am."

He smiled wryly. "That's fair enough then. I say we leave the pin for now and get to another very important part of the investigation."

"And that is?" Rex asked.

"Investigating the dead body," Malik answered bluntly. "Arguably the shittiest part of any murder investigation."

I looked at the body of Lia still decorating the wall and felt a bit of bile rise into my throat. "You can say that again…"

"Wait," Rex interjected. "Weren't we gonna get a spear out of the weapons crate and see how strong the wall is?"

Malik grunted. "I guess, but I think we can multitask. Rex, you're on Team Beta, so I think you should be the one to examine the body while Sera and I test the wall."

Rex's shoulders fell upon hearing that, and his face drooped significantly. "Oh? So I get to do 'arguably the shittiest part of any murder investigation'? Why do _I_ have to be the one to do it? She's a girl; it wouldn't feel right!"

I couldn't help but snigger at my friend's distress, because I was such a good person. "Aw, c'mon, Rex. Weren't you always the one complaining that you never got any action with girls?"

I watched Rex shudder and then shoot a sharp glare at me. "I was talkn' about living girls and you know it!"

Malik seemed less inclined to making dumb necrophilia jokes and interrupted us. "Rex, you're the only person here who we can be certain is not a suspect in this murder. So we can know that anything you say is an unbiased and reliable observation. If Sera or I investigated her, there would be the chance that one of us or both of us are murderers, which makes anything we say completely unreliable."

Rex glowered at him silently for a moment before hesitantly turning towards the corpse, grumbling something about me and Malik taking this whole investigation way too seriously. This meant it was time for me to open up that crate.

The combination was still [4, 5, 9], a fact which hadn't changed since the last time I opened it. I entered it with a hand covering the lock to prevent Malik from figuring out the passcode for himself. The box opened easily enough and we were able to find a spear very similar to the one inside of Lia. Once Malik had the spear in his hands, I made sure to shut the crate.

I watched Malik twirl the spear in his hands, getting a feel for the thing and examining it. "So," he began, "would you like to do the honors? Or should I try it out first?"

I shrugged. "I mean you're probably physically stronger than me, so maybe I should try it first, and if I can pierce through the wall, then you definitely can."

Malik held out the spear with a smirk. "I have no objections. Just don't hold back, okay?"

I scoffed, taking the spear and walking over to the wall. "I've never held back in my entire life." I held the weapon in both of my hands and rocked it back and forth, rehearsing my next action. For split second, my eyes landed on Lia and I felt my grip weaken.

"Stop for a minute," Malik interrupted.

"What?" I snapped, inadvertently aiming the weapon at him.

He rolled his eyes. "First, put that thing down." I obeyed without question. "Second, I think you should try doing it with one hand. Whoever killed Lia had to have been holding her down with one hand. How often does someone just stand up against a wall and _let_ you impale them?"

I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Though it's still weird that nobody other than Lia has blood on them -or at least that we can see. I mean, if I used my arm to hold Lia down like this -" I walked over to the wall and put my forearm and elbow against it as though I were pinning someone down. "I would definitely have blood all over my shirt and my arm. Too much blood to just wipe away on my jeans." I then repositioned myself so that my hand was pushing against the wall rather than my whole arm. "And if I do it like this, I'd still get blood on me. There's no way I'd be able to achieve enough distance to both kill her and come out without any blood on me."

Rex, who had stopped searching Lia's body to pay attention to us, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, plus the hand that's holding the spear would have blood on it no matter what." He gestured towards us, ushering us over to him. "Like come check this out. I didn't see this at first, but it's pretty obvious what this is."

I laid the spear in my hand against the wall before walking towards him. He was indicating the other spear, the actual murder weapon in this case. Lia was pinned rather low against the wall -her toes were brushing against the ground -so it wasn't too hard to get a good look at the spear inside of her. The parts closest to her mouth were naturally coated so thickly with blood that it was impossible to see the silver underneath. It was the rest of the spear that was interesting. It seemed like the coat of blood thinned as is approached the third quarter of the shaft, but that wasn't the interesting part; what really caught my interest was the fact that there were two prints in the center of the shaft, with a distance of about four inches between them. It looked a lot like two fists had been tightly grasping the shaft.

"Did the murderer make these marks?" I asked, glancing at Malik, who was deep in thought.

"They're pretty small handprints," he noted, stroking his chin. "But the strange part is that there are two of them."

I gasped. "Oh yeah! Didn't we just say that whoever murdered her would have to hold the spear with only one hand so they could hold Lia down while they killed her?"

Rex nodded. "But don't tell me you didn't notice the weirdest part." He gestured again to the handprints. "The prints are bloody. You'd think if someone held a spear and then got it all bloody, the place covered by their hand would be clean, right?"

I bit my lip and examined the marks further. "You're right! The handprints are a bit cleaner than the rest of the spear, but it still looks bloody underneath. But what could that mean?"

He shrugged. "Beats me, but this murder isn't as straightforward as it looks." He then crouched down a bit. "I also noticed something else. It's kinda hard to see if you're not looking for it, but come check it out." Malik and I crouched and watched Rex expectantly. "Look closely at the skin under her left knee."

I scrutinized her knee with a bemused look. I guess Rex really did take his job examining the body seriously -or at least more seriously than I expected. I was a bit impressed at how thorough he actually was. It took me a minute, but I noticed that there was a thin red line just under her knee, and it looked like there was a bit of dried blood around it, smudged as though someone had hastily tried to wipe it off.

"That's weird," Malik mumbled. "Did that happen during the struggle with her murderer?"

"I mean, we can assume so," I replied. "Maybe she wiped her knee on the killer, trying to knee him in the groin or something."

"Let's just make a note of it and move on then," Malik said. "Sera, can you hold the test spear from the same places as the killer held them?"

I sighed and slumped my shoulders and I turned to retrieve the test spear; I then placed my fists in the middle, separated why what I estimated was about four inches. "Like this?" I asked.

Malik nodded. "Perfect. Now ram it into the wall."

"Aye aye, captain," I grumbled, taking the spear and moving it back and forth, testing the movement of my arms before letting out a loud grunt and thrusting it forward with all the strength I could. I heard a loud bang as the spear punctured the wall and leaned against the wall, holding the spear to keep me steady and panting in exertion. My arms felt like jelly after putting all my weight into that thrust, and my muscles felt like they were vibrating.

Malik made an inquisitive noise as he walked towards me and the spear now jutting out from the wall. "So it _is_ possible for a small girl like you to push the spear in."

I glared, still holding on to the spear, but slouching against the wall inelegantly. "You know, if I were the killer, I wouldn't be allowing you to subject me to these tests. I probably would have failed this one on purpose."

Rex laughed at me. "I'm just surprised you haven't made a dick joke throughout this entire spear penetration experiment."

I almost felt like punching both myself and Rex in the face. He was right. I missed a golden opportunity just then. "I was just biding my time for the best moment to spring one on you. But now you've gone and ruined it," I lied.

"I bet you were," he said with a smirk.

I ignored him and shook the spear in my hands. "It looks like the walls are pretty thin," I noted. "This thing is definitely stuck, but I didn't feel a lot of resistance after the first push. It went in pretty easily after I broke through the wall."

I caught Rex trying to stifle his laughter from the corner of my eye. Okay, so there was a lot of unintentional innuendo in there, but it wasn't like I was actively _trying_ to make it sound sexual. Besides, knowing Rex, it didn't take a lot for him to turn things into a giant innuendo-filled joke. I was actually kinda proud of him for not making a "That's what your mom said" joke; he was definitely showing a lot of restraint.

Just then, a loud growling noise interrupted our investigation and I released the shaft of the spear to grab my stomach. "Sorry," I squeaked. "I haven't eaten in hours."

Rex grinned in amusement. "Didn't you have sandwiches in your backpack?"

I shook my head and groaned. "The sandwiches were in Weevil's backpack."

At that, his eyes widened. "God dammit! Why would you let him carry them in his bag? You know Bug-brain's just gonna eat them himself, right?"

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Minute Darkness - Umineko No Naku Koro Ni]_

* * *

I couldn't reply to him as static noise filled the room and we heard Pegasus's voice. "Oh, it's so nice to see you all so vigilant in your pursuit of Lia's murderer! I knew this tragedy would bring you all together." It didn't seem like he was talking to the people in the meeting room specifically, so I could only assume that there were other loudspeakers installed around the submarine. "I know you must all be _famished_ after everything that's happened this morning, so I'd like to happily inform you that the mess hall is now open for breakfast and will be open until 11AM. We've got an open buffet of the most mouth-watering meals made by my own personal chef and his team. So please help yourselves, and don't forget that our next meeting will be at 6PM. Make sure you've got your stories straight by then; I'm looking forward to hearing what you discover. And to make it a bit more interesting, I've come up with a fun new rule." I was pretty much already on my way to the mess hall when he said that and stopped dead in my tracks to listen. "Whosoever correctly discovers the identity of the murderer as well as the method they used will be granted immunity and be sent out of the game zone and into the guest zone for the remainder of the game. So happy theorizing!"

When the static died, Malik, Rex, and I simply stared at each other. It felt like all the air had been completely sucked out of the room. Immunity was a big deal, and only one of us got to have it. Pegasus had officially made this an 'every man for himself' deal with that rule. We were so happy to be coming up with logical theories with Malik, but now there was no way he'd cooperate with us if it was a competition.

"God, what an asshole," Rex groaned.

Malik let out a sigh that sounded like he had been holding it in for a while, and rubbed his temples with a strained expression on his face. "You can definitely say that again."

"God! What an asshole!" I wailed, clawing at the sides of my face melodramatically before leaning against the door and sighing. "I'm still hungry," I concluded in a small voice. "I need to go raid the buffet."

Malik shrugged and said, "I could use a good meal, too. I'm gonna go find Bakura and Serenity first, though, and see if they wanna come with us."

I nodded, having no qualms with that. Besides, I needed to get Rex alone for a bit anyway. We needed to talk about this new rule that Pegasus added. Rex and I were friends, so we could definitely figure out this issue. One of us would have to stand down and help the other get the answer.

Once Malik was gone, I stepped out of the meeting room and into the hall with Rex. After making sure Malik was really gone and out of earshot, I remarked, "Well, Pegasus sure likes to fuck us in the ass, doesn't he?"

Rex snorted. "He sure isn't making this easy. A murder investigation is better when everyone cooperates with you and you can get all the clues, but now, you can bet nobody's gonna help us out with anything. With some kind of murder game going on, I think everyone wants that ticket out of the game; no way are they gonna give us a chance to do that."

I bit my lip. "Yeah, I thought so, too. I was also thinking about what the two of us are gonna do. Only one of us gets to leave if we figure out who the culprit is. I think it should be you."

Rex was taken aback by my words and widened his eyes. "But you could be killed. I can take care of myself, so you should probably be the one to leave the game."

Shaking my head vigorously, I retorted, "But I'm already dead. If I die again, it's no big deal. You're the one who got roped into it against your will! You're not the only one who can take care of himself. I'm strong, too. I won't go down without a fight!"

He growled when he heard that. "No big deal? Don't say shit like that! You're my best friend and I'm not letting you pass up on that immunity!"

"Well, that's not your choice, is it?" I argued. "I can only get out if I tell Pegasus whodunit and howdunit, and I'm not saying anything, because I want you to go back to Weevil and stay safe!"

Rex seemed to be at a loss for words, with tense shoulders and a stern look on his face. "Well," he finally said, "none of this matters if we never figure out who killed Lia. So let's focus on that first, and we'll argue about this later."

"Fine," I said in a smug tone, placing my hands on my hips and tilting my nose upwards.

He let out a very long breath and shook his head. "You're really stubborn, y'know?"


	7. Lumen V: Lorna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know whether I like or hate this chapter. [shrug]

_[Soundtrack: Breathe - Old City: Leviathan]_

* * *

Serenity's eyes struggle to remain open as she tries to swim upwards towards the glimmer of the full moon reflecting against the water's surface. She can feel boulders in her skirts dragging her down, and with every stroke, her breath grows shorter and her vision grows foggier.

She can't even remember how she got here; all of her memories are black voids covered in blankets of darkness. The only thing she knows is this ocean surrounding her and the sense that someone she loves is in trouble. She wants to cry out but nobody can hear her underwater. She wouldn't even know who to cry out for. Who could possibly save her?

_Don't leave me all alone here… I need you…_

The image of the moon is then shattered as something big and dark enters the water, unceremoniously tossed and sinking to the bottom. It's a man, his arms outstretched above his head. Half of his fingers are curled inwards and half pointed ahead, almost as though he were pointing at Serenity as she tries to reach him.

At some point, words gush out of Serenity's mouth, completely out of her control, and she begins to wonder if it's even her body that she's operating at the moment. The fingers she can see raised above her head are calloused and the olive colored arms are covered in discolored scars. This isn't Serenity's body.

Even the thoughts in her head don't belong to her. She keeps hearing whispering, blocking out her own thoughts and memories and leaving her mind stranded in the present with this sinking man. Is he dead? Or is he just like her, left for dead in the ocean?

She can feel saltwater rushing down her throat, but she's powerless to cough it up, and it just keeps forcing itself into her lungs. Her eyes are stinging but she can't turn her eyes away from the sinking man, just a couple of feet away from her.

She feels a pang in her chest when in the darkness, she can see his two eyes open wearily. They narrow in recognition when they land on her and he begins to swim with purpose towards her.

**_Don't die. Not again. I won't let you die again…_ **

It's too dim in the water to clearly trace the details on his face, but she can feel her mind almost religiously commit his face to memory -his strong jaw, his crooked nose, his long lashes, his short grey hair floating gently around his head; but as soon as their hands are close enough to touch, a dark emotion fills her chest, almost like a great sorrow as well as a great rage. Before she can even process these emotions, her entire body begins to feel heavy; her arms grow limp and her vision turns black.

_Stay with me. I love you. Please, stay with me…_

* * *

_[Soundtrack: The March of Time - Hakuoki]_

* * *

"Serenity?"

When Serenity awakens, she's in her bed in the room that had been assigned to her on the submarine. Her mind is so focussed on the handsome face in the water that she nearly misses Ryou's gentle voice calling out to her. She's startled when she can think her own thoughts again and move her own body and begins to idly fidget with her skirt her mind now full of the the texture of it and the thrill of voluntary movement.

"Are you alright?" he murmurs. He's seated beside her bed on a chair; the book folded on the bedside table indicated that he had been reading the entire time. She feels him sneak a hand under the covers and intertwine his fingers with hers.

She blushes and sits up, nodding and untangling her fingers to grab her hair tie from the table and pull her hair up in a ponytail. "I'm okay -just tired, I think."

"It looked like you were having a nightmare," he remarks, his tone soaked in worry. "Was it the same one as usual?"

With a shake of her head, she shifts her weight and wraps her arms around her shoulders. "It was a different one. The one I always have is about the Solitude falling apart."

Ryou nods and shuts his eyes, bringing up the memory of the dream himself. He has also been having the same dream occasionally. "You mean the one where it collapses on top of Zorc, Lorna, and the Warden?"

Serenity nods. "They were the only ones left in there, right?"

He strokes his chin and makes a thoughtful noise. "I think so. I can't shake the feeling that someone else was also there, but that would be impossible. Who else would be there?"

She shrugs and gives him a weak smile. "Even though we lost Lorna… Zorc and the Warden are gone for good, right? So at least we have less to worry about."

He smiles back at her, watching a strand of her hair slowly escape the ponytail to rest against her cheek. "As far as the Millennium Ring goes, I believe it's nothing more than an accessory now."

"So he can't control you anymore," Serenity notes, her lips widening gently in a grin. "I'm glad. He can't hurt you anymore."

Ryou chuckles from behind his calm smile and his hand reaches out to rest on her shoulder. "So what was your nightmare about? Was it the Inbetween?"

Serenity frowns and shakes her head. "I don't know. All I remember is a man's face… His face makes me sad for some reason and I can't explain it."

She's startled when the bed lurches as Ryou takes a seat at the edge of the bed. He reaches towards her face with a handkerchief and wipes something cold off of her face. Her hand jumps up to feel her cheeks.

"You're crying," Ryou muttered, his voice again colored with the same apprehension from before. "What is it?"

Her shoulders weakly rise in another shrug as she replies, "I don't know. I'm just really sad and I can't control it." Her voice is heartachingly weak as she spits the words out, her lips quivering and her eyes blinking away a steady stream of tears. "I don't know who he is, but he makes me feel so broken." Each word is accented by a gasp as she pulls her arms up over her chest and bows her head down. "I'm sorry…"

Ryou doesn't say a word the entire time, gently stroking her hair with his hand until her sobs still and the shuddering in her shoulders are no more. He offers her the handkerchief again and she gratefully takes it, giving him a reassuring smile. "Are you alright?"

With a firm nod, she says, "Yes, I think I am now. Sorry for making you worry so much…"

He chuckles and shakes his head. "Don't apologize for that."

She soaks the handkerchief in her snot and tears before folding it up and placing it on the bedside table. "I can't really explain what just came over me, but I don't think those were my own feelings."

At that, he perks up. "If they weren't your emotions, then did they belong to someone else?" Serenity simply offers up a noncommittal grunt. "If so, then whose were they?"

"I wish I knew," she says, her eyes glaring a hole into her sheets. "If only I knew who that man was, I'd have an idea whose feelings these are. Whoever they are, they really love him…"

Ryou frowns, reaching for Serenity's hand. "Well, we'll keep a lookout for him, then. We might find him somewhere in the Inbetween."

She nods and closes her fingers around his and breathes in slowly, shutting her eyes and replacing that man's face with Ryou's. The two of them aren't really officially a couple, or at least, the two of them haven't really discussed the idea. Ryou would say he felt it the moment he laid eyes on her in the Inbetween -a beautiful fairy wielding a silver bow and arrow and facing off fearlessly against a fierce knight; she is the definition of light with a laugh that can breathe life into the dead.

Serenity can feel it, too, when his eyes are on her. Many a time has he saved her life and she never feels safer than when he's nearby. There is a darkness in him, however, that breaks her heart, and if being by her side brings a smile to his face, then she wants to be by his side all the time. It makes her heart flutter in anxiety to consider what her brother would say if he knew she and Bakura were this close, and perhaps that's why she's never gotten around to talking to Joey about these feelings. The only person who she's told anything is Mai.

While Serenity was fond of Mai during the Battle City tournament, it was only after the two met in the Solitude that they truly found companionship in each other. The two have been nearly inseparable since, a union that Joey would either constantly bemoan or constantly praise. It's no secret that Joey has feelings for Mai himself, a fact that Serenity is too timid to bring up.

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Lab Practicum - Half-Life 2]_

* * *

Just then, a sound is injected into the once comfortable silence -it's the unmistakable sound of Maximillion Pegasus's voice. Serenity frowns when he brings up the hunt for Lia's murderer again. The duo left it up to Malik, Rex, and Sera to investigate while the two of them got some much needed rest. Serenity can't really explain how she felt so tired; it was as though the moment the lights went out in that room, she could feel her energy being wiped out as well, and she knows Ryou felt it as well. In fact, since Lia seemed to be anchored to Ryou, he must have felt quite literally like his energy had been sapped.

"Immunity?" Ryou mumbles to himself as Pegasus's announcement comes to an end. "He's raised the stakes. He wants to incentivize all of us to participate in the investigation and turn us all against each other."

She nods and rubs her hand over the goosebumps that formed along her arm. "He doesn't like that we're relying on each other because it will only make it harder for us to kill each other in the next round…" she says grimly.

"Well, not for all of us," he remarks. "Someone here had no problem killing Lia. I wonder what will happen to the murderer once they've been discovered. It's only a matter of time…"

She sighs. "If they're discovered. The entire investigation just seems impossible."

"You mentioned earlier that you think Lia was the one with the murderous intent," he reminds her. "That's a good lead. None of us knew her, and none of us have any reason to believe that she wouldn't kill us."

She just nods. "Yeah. Leon mentioned it, I think. And I can't stop thinking about it. So if she was the one who took out the spear and tried to kill someone, her intended victim is the most likely suspect, right?"

"That certainly makes sense, but if someone was targeted by her, why keep it quiet? If they killed her in self-defense…"

"Because we wouldn't believe them," she answers before he can finish. "Why would any of us believe that whoever killed her did it in self-defense when it's so much easier to turn against them? If I were the killer, I wouldn't say anything either…"

Ryou stares at her in shocked silence, but he can't help but think that she's right. It would be way too risky to confess, especially now that it has been a few hours since Lia was murdered. "I wonder, if the killer confesses at the meeting with Pegasus, wouldn't they get immunity for being the 'first to correctly discover the murderer's identity'"

Her breath catches in her throat. "That… could be true actually."

"I'm not sure if the killer has realized this either, but there's definitely more at stake."

"If only there were a way to contact the police… Whatever is going on here has to be illegal…" She glances forlornly at her phone, which is essentially useless this far below sea level. "Under the sea, nobody can find you or rescue you…"

Ryou tenses and tightens his grip on Serenity's hand. "That might not be entirely true. At least, not for us."

"What are you saying?"

"We're anchors with the ability to access the Inbetween, correct?"

"Yes…" she replies uncertainly. "But we can't control it yet."

"But what if we could?" he says, placing a hand on the Millennium Ring adorning his chest. "I know for a fact that these items are linked to the Inbetween. Zorc's spirit used to reside in the Inbetween with the Ring as his anchor. I'm willing to bet it's the same for the Pharaoh and the Puzzle. If we can find him, we can reach Yugi and our friends."

Her face lights up. "So we're not totally cut off."

"Yes, and no," he replies. "While it is definitely possible, the Inbetween is a vast place, and the Puzzle itself is a vast realm in and of itself. We must first find the Puzzle, and then find the Pharaoh within it, which is no easy task."

This information doesn't darken the expression on Serenity's face. "That's alright. I know we can do it. There must be a way to go to places in the Inbetween just by thinking about them, though. I remember when I found you in the Solitude months ago, all I could think about was how worried I was about you, and when I opened my eyes, I was by your side."

Ryou blushes at the sincerity of Serenity's words. "Be that as it may," he says after regaining his composure, "the Puzzle may be designed to be difficult to find in the Inbetween. Such realms always have hidden doors and can be quite dangerous. The Solitude was quite similar to the Puzzle in that regard."

"I'm sure the Pharaoh would find us, though. We're his friends," she says, still beaming. "I know we can do it."

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Chizra - Unreal Gold]_

* * *

The submarine mess hall is big enough to fit an entire Naval crew, but it just makes Serenity and Ryou feel small and more alone than before. They are the last people to arrive to the hall, save for Malik, who seems to have not arrived yet. The rest of the guests were all spread out across several tables. There are Sun, Zephyr and Rafael occupying a table at the far left, while Rex and Sera sit at the farthest table to the right. Mako and Enzi accompany Leon at a table in the center of the room. They are by far the loudest table, their laughter reverberating around the room. Serenity isn't sure how anyone can laugh in this situation, but it seems like the two older men are trying to lift the youngest boy's spirits.

Part of Serenity aches to sit at Mako's table and surround herself with that laughter as well, but that ache is quelled by the stronger ache of distrust gripping her heart. She catches Mako's eye and he flashes her a bright smile, but she can barely muster up the strength to smile back. Without a word, she and Ryou make their way over to a table in the right hand corner closest to the door. They don't even bother with getting up to fill up plates of breakfast, simply sitting there because they feel the need to be there.

"I wonder where Malik is," Serenity muses. "Do you think he's already eaten?"

Ryou shrugs and sends an anxious glance to the door. "Perhaps, but why would he wander off on his own instead of trying to come find us."

She shakes her head and looks down at her lap before letting out a small, startled gasp. "Wait. You don't think…"

He narrows his eyes once he realizes what she means. "That he wants to get immunity for himself? You think he might have decided to keep to himself?"

She's quiet, but he can tell that her mind is already going through these scenarios. "I don't want to think that he'd do this after everything we've been through together, but he's done bad things before… He let Marik send Mai to the Solitude… The entire time, all he cared about was finding Lorna, and now that she's gone -"

"He's unpredictable…" he says. "Yes, I agree."

"Was I wrong? For wanting to help him?"

"No, absolutely not," he replies. "Your strong empathy is one of your greatest strengths. Letting something like this change such a fundamental and beautiful part of your spirit would be a horrible thing. You are one of the strongest people I know, and Malik is fortunate to find an ally in you."

Serenity grins, patches of red painting her cheeks. "Thank you, Ryou. That means a lot to me."

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Dead Angle - Umineko No Naku Koro Ni]_

* * *

It's deathly silent in the dormitory wing, and dim as night with the power-saving lights on the ceiling barely casting enough light to read the nameplates by the doors. A single shadow crawls along the wall as Malik paces restlessly back and forth down the hallway. He had heard Ryou and Serenity leave Serenity's room several minutes ago while hiding in the shadows.

He doesn't know why he's even there, but in his mind, he's better off alone. The one person who truly understood him is gone, now, and he won't even get to spend the afterlife with her, and it was all his fault. Of course, thoughts of her dulled over the few months since she's been gone, but the blame is fresh, and the blood on his hands is as vibrantly scarlet as ever.

Part of him wonders what would happen if the lights go out right now. Maybe someone would murder him, too, and it would be way less than he deserves. He isn't suicidal by any means, after all, he's already dead, and if he can't escape his troubles in death, then there really is no end to it all.

_"THE LIGHT IS NOT DEAD. IT YET LIVES ON IN THE WIND. BUT WIND ALWAYS DIES AFTER A STORM, AND WHEN I LEAVE THIS REALM, IT IS NOT I THAT WILL ERASE IT, BUT THE MONSTER WHO LOVES IT THE MOST."_

Those were the last words that escaped Lorna's lips before Malik shot a ball of energy into her small body. The memory of the Warden's voice still ignites a flurry of rage, making his guts churn uncomfortably beneath his skin. "The light was erased by the monster who loved it the most…" he mumbles to himself, halting right in front of the door to the showers. "I guess I am a monster, aren't I."

He walks into the bathroom and heads towards the area with the sinks. He wets his hands and splashes water over his face in an attempt to wash the darkness away. He only notices the tightness in his chest and his escalated breathing rate when he looks up into the mirror.

"I'm the only murderer here," he grunts, his voice raspy and aggressive. "I killed her. I'm so sorry, Lorna… I deserved to be hated by you. I deserved every terrible thought that's ever crossed your mind about me."

_"Do you now?"_

The voice is unmistakable. It's her. He doesn't even need to turn around to know that it's her. He can see her tiny body leaning against one of the closed shower stalls with her arms crossed over her chest. "Lorna," he chokes. "But how?"

_"Hmm… can you keep a secret, Malik?"_

He turns around to make sure the reflection in the mirror isn't just some cruel hallucination, but there she is, still standing barely 3 feet away from him. He's almost afraid to approach her. "You're dead."

_"Yeah, and so are you, ya dingus,"_ she replies with a dry laugh.

Something is wrong, though. Her eyes aren't their usual warm brown color. They're dark and cold, and void of passion or feeling. It's like speaking to someone who's only pretending to be Lorna, but who could possibly look exactly like her and imitate her voice so well?

_"I've gotta admit, hanging out with murderers is not my style. Especially when they murdered me."_

Her words are freeze every nerve ending in his body. He can't even move. "L-Lorna, I'm so sorry…"

Her voice is even sharper now. _"You think that's gonna cut it? You think that's going to bring me back? That I'll magically come back to life just because you have some creepy crush on me that I never even wanted? Like that guilt justifies what happened? You're a disgusting little coward. You don't even deserve to say my name."_

Malik can't even speak now, his jaw is slack and his tongue refuses to move. She's right; of course, she's right.

_"Why don't you just kill yourself and save everyone else the trouble?"_

He gasps in disbelief at the words spilling out of her mouth, and all it takes is just that brief moment to take in Lorna's appearance in its entirety. She's wearing a large hoodie, long enough to reach the middle of her thighs with long black tights, and staining the front of that hoodie is a dark maroon color, which, at a time like this, he can only associate with dry blood.

"Lorna, what happened to you?"

_"Are you still talking to me? I thought I told you not to say my name again!"_

More firmly now, he repeats. "Lorna, whose blood is that?"

This grabs her attention, and she lets out a maniacal little giggle. _"This?"_ she gestures to her hoodie. _"Well, it's not mine if that's what you're asking."_

He can feel a new emotion swelling in his chest -betrayal. Whatever this thing is, it can't be the Lorna he knows. "Did you hurt someone?"

_"Hurt someone?"_ she repeats, her tone sounding almost sarcastic. _"I can show you how I got these bloodstains if you want."_ Her small hands reach into her pockets and pull out a glimmering knife. _"I'll give you a five minute head start. Okay?"_

Malik spends the first 30 seconds of his head start just staring incredulously at the thing standing in front of him. Her face is Lorna's; there's no doubt about that. Her voice is Lorna's. Her body is Lorna's… but there's no way that's Lorna.

_"Well? Clock's ticking."_ she reminds him, twirling the knife handle between her fingers.

That's all he needs to hear to turn on his heel and leave. He could have overpowered her, sure, but he's afraid of more than just her knife.


	8. Thinking Inside the Box

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This early chapter update is brought to you by the Zero Escape trilogy which has one of the best soundtracks ever.

_[Soundtrack: Consternation - Zero Escape - Virtue's Last Reward]_

* * *

It was around 2PM when Malik finally woke up. After Breakfast had passed and he hadn't shown up, Rex and I thought he might have stayed behind to investigate some more; after all, Pegasus didn't say we _had_ to go to breakfast. We had just chose to go anyway because free food is free food no matter who was serving it. Rex and I headed towards my room to rest for a bit after the meal and discuss the next steps in Lia's murder investigation. We were able to discuss for barely even half an hour before we heard a loud knock on Rex's door.

We found Serenity and Ryou looking quite shaken. "Sera, Rex, it's Malik! Something happened to him!" Serenity cried breathlessly, her face twisted in anxiety. You could almost hear the adrenaline rushing through her frail body.

I was at a loss for words, still trying to comprehend the frightened girl's words, but Rex was coherent enough for the both of us. "Show us where he is!" he demanded.

"That's the thing," Ryo replied somberly, "We don't know. We've been searching for a while, but haven't found him. The door to his room was unlocked and he wasn't in there."

"This area that Pegasus let us walk around in isn't that big, so it shouldn't be this hard to find one guy," Serenity said more calmly now.

It took us about a solid hour of searching before Rex spotted him. As a last resort, we had started searching through people's closets (and let me tell you, Sun was _not_ happy to find Rex crouching in her shower). When we came to Lia's room, it was untouched; nobody had even dared to enter it. That was where he found him -not in plain sight, mind you, but curled up in the fetal position in the bottom drawer of Lia's dresser.

Neither of us were sure how the guy, who must have weighed at least like at least 170lbs, if not more, managed to get stuffed in there, and if he was unconscious, chances were that he didn't exactly do that to himself; someone else must have attacked him. That thought alone sent chills down my spine. I wanted to think that whoever did that to him was also Lia's killer, then I'd be able to believe that there was only one sadist among us, but was that _really_ true? Could there only be one sadist here?

The idea that Lia's murderer could have an accomplice was one that had been brought up at breakfast by Rex. He noted that all of us were sitting in distinct groups -the same groups that we had been in during our meeting with Pegasus in the morning, with the exception of Leon who didn't seem to have any allegiances to anyone else in the room and sat where he felt comfortable. The same could probably be said for Lia before she died.

Going by that, we could say there were four distinct groups. We could call Sun, Zephyr, and Rafael Group A. They were obviously closely acquainted and even came with matching cloaks like evil henchmen. They were obviously suspicious, but Sun and Zephyr were on Lia's team, which meant that if someone from their group killed her, it would have to be Rafael, who was a member of my team. But would Sun and Zephyr cover for Rafael at the expense of their own team?

The next group, which we could call Group B, was comprised of Serenity, Malik, and Ryou. Those three had clearly gone through quite an ordeal together and were obviously allied together, but they came across as much less suspicious to me. Similarly to Group A, two of their members were part of Lia's team, so if it was one of them, it would have to be Malik, and after finding Malik unconscious and stuffed in a closet, it seemed much less likely that he was the killer.

The third group, Group C, would be Mako and Enzi. Those two were anchored to each other but also placed on opposing teams. Rex and I knew them pretty well, but not well enough to guarantee that neither of them was capable of murder. Plus, in a duo, it was very likely one would sacrifice his win for the other, making Enzi quite suspicious as well.

The last group was me and Rex. We were Group D (if you know what I mean -winky face- … "Dinosaur"; I meant "Dinosaur" you dirty minded freaks). Our duo was also split between two groups, making me the only one who could have killed her among us. I knew for a fact that I didn't kill Lia, but I was obviously the most suspicious person.

Casting aside the groups, however, there was still the chance that the killer was a lone wolf who would betray their own group for the victory of their team, which in this case, would make the groupings we came up with essentially meaningless.

The one person who didn't fit into a group was Leon, but the boy looked like he was 12 years old and clearly hadn't hit his growth spurt. Lia may have been short, but she was still taller than Leon, so for a kid like him to not only pin Lia up against a wall, but also shove a spear through her head, he would have had to be packing some serious muscle inside those noodly arms of his, which was really unlikely. Man would it be a plot-fucking-twist if it really was him, though.

Enough of that, though, you guys want to know about Malik, right? Well, we're getting to that.

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Infirmary - Zero Time Dilemma]_

* * *

When we found Malik, we called Ryou over, who helped us pull the drawer out and lift Malik out of it. We then carried him over his own room a couple doors down and laid him on his bed. The quarters we were confined to didn't exactly have any kind of infirmary or first aid or anything. I suppose that kind of stuff didn't really matter because Pegasus wanted us to kill each other. Performing first aid on a murder victim would be counterproductive to his plot.

"It's awful," Serenity wept, brushing her hand under Malik's bangs to feel his forehead. "Who would do this to him?"

Ryou's jaw stiffened as he brushed through the golden hair on the other boy's head to search for the cause of Malik's loss of consciousness. He pulled his hand out with red staining his fingers and frowned. "Someone hit him over the head. I can't quite tell with what, but I believe he has a concussion. We won't know what happened to him until he wakes up, I'm afraid."

"I bet whoever did it was the same person who killed Lia. It had to have been," I said.

Ryou hesitated before voicing a reply. "That is certainly possible, but we can't rule out other motives for this attack. He was a member of Team Alpha, making him a suspect in Lia's murder. If someone believed him to be the killer, perhaps this attack was only meant to incapacitate. After all, he was found in a drawer in Lia's closet. If he had awoken there, he would not have been able to escape by himself; he would have needed our help."

"This would mean that whoever did it would be naming him as the killer during our meeting with Pegasus at 6PM…" Serenity remarked uncertainly.

With a nod, he said, "Yes, I believe so."

"Well, we can say this definitely happened after he investigated the crime scene with me and Sera. He left us when the mess hall opened for breakfast," Rex recalled. "He never showed up for breakfast, so it probably happened between 8AM and 11AM. That's a 3 hour window where we had no idea where he was."

Serenity bit her lip and shook her head. "Actually, that's not true. Ryou and I searched for him after lunch for about half an hour before calling you over, and it took all four of us another half hour to find him, which means that we can say it happened between 8AM and 12PM, making it a 4 hour window."

Rex's eyes widened briefly before he nodded. "Shit. You're right."

"Well," I spoke up. "I can say that at about 15 past 8, Rex and I were in the mess hall. When we arrived, everyone but you two and Malik were already there. You two arrived at about half past 8 if I remember correctly."

Ryou nodded in agreement. "And until 11PM when the mess hall closed, all ten of us remained in the mess hall."

I frowned, remembering those long 3 hours we spent there. We weren't forced to remain in the mess hall, but the mess hall itself had quite a lot to inspect. When we first arrived, there was absolutely no food in sight -I suppose the mess hall being open didn't mean the buffet would be open as well. We all spent a good half hour doing absolutely nothing but waiting for the food. Well, it would be inaccurate to say we were doing _nothing_. We were all buzzing with our theories about Lia's murder, even more so since Pegasus's announcement.

The mess hall itself actually had a couple of doors that seemed to lead to an area that we were barred from accessing. After some examination, many of us theorized that this mess hall was used for the guests as well. Perhaps that was why our breakfast started a bit late, the guests were having breakfast before us.

Regardless of how those 3 hours were spent, however, it was true that all 10 of us had alibis for Malik's attack, at least between 8AM and 11AM. "This means that he was attacked between 11 and 12, right?" I asked.

"Maybe," Rex mumbled. "But if all of us were searching between 11:30 and 12PM, it would have been hard for the attacker to get by unnoticed, especially not lugging around a fully grown teenage boy."

"True… but before that -"

"And before 11:30," he interrupted, "I find it hard to believe that it took someone half an hour to find him, knock him out, and stuff him in a drawer, all while Serenity and Ryou were searching for Malik. If those two couldn't find him, the attacker would have had a hard time finding him, too, because they would have had to avoid Malik's friends."

"So are you saying that between 11PM and 12AM it was impossible for Malik to have been attacked?" Serenity questioned.

With a nod, he said, "That's exactly what I'm saying. I mean it would technically be possible… if Malik just rolled over and _let_ the attacker get him."

I shrugged and muttered, "Well, that's also possible actually…"

"Don't be an idiot, Sera," he scolded without missing a beat. _Jeez. Fuck you, too, buddy._

There was a solemn silence before Serenity spoke, stroking her chin as she did. "You make a valid point, but at the same time, we can say that between 8:00 and 8:15, nobody had any alibis."

"That's wrong, actually," Rex replied with a matter-of-fact tone. "They might have alibis. If we believe that the six people other than us are all conspiring with each other, then yeah, nobody has an alibi, but that's pretty unlikely. We don't know what anyone was doing from the moment Malik left Sera and me up until the moment we saw all of them in the mess hall."

"So I guess it's like Schrödinger's alibi. They both do and don't have alibis… That doesn't really help us," I grumbled.

"It doesn't have to," Rex said. "Because 15 minutes isn't even enough time to track him down and attack Malik, especially not when all of us were going to the mess hall from all directions. It would have been too risky."

"You know what you're saying, right?" Ryou told him, his face twisted in discomfort. "You're saying that nobody had the opportunity to attack him. But that's impossible, because we're the only people here, unless Pegasus has brought in a 13th person here."

Rex shrugged nonchalantly, looking much cooler than he was allowed to and reminding me why we were friends in the first place (aside from my mortal soul being bound to his). "It might be possible that there's a 13th person, sure, but what I was getting at was actually the fact that there are exactly two people who would have been able to pull this off: Ryou and Serenity."

I gasped and narrowed my eyes at the two. They both looked shocked at the accusation, neither of them managing to say a thing without stammering. Could they really have done that to Malik? Their own friend?

"Of course we didn't!" Serenity protested after finding her voice. "Ryou and I were together the whole time and we never separated until we got to the mess hall."

Rex waved her statement off dismissively. "Yeah? So? I'm guessing you two are dating or something, but that just means you're not really good alibis for each other. In all honesty, it's more likely you're accomplices. You're both from team Beta, while Malik is from Alpha. Plus, judging from what we saw during the live broadcast of Battle City tournament a couple months back, you guys weren't always so chummy with Malik, right? Plus, he told us he was going to find you two before he went to the mess hall, but then when you two showed up, you showed up without him, and 30 minutes late too... Pretty suspicious if you ask me…"

"That's wrong!" Serenity snapped. "We'd never do this! Besides, you said half an hour wasn't enough time for -"

"Not enough time for a stranger, no," he interjected. "But you didn't have to go looking for him because he was going right towards you, and nobody would bat an eye if they saw him go into your room. Besides, your rooms aren't that far from Lia's room. Serenity could have been standing watch while Ryou carried his unconscious body the room. There would be no witnesses."

Ryou, whose mouth had hardened into a firm line, simply nodded. "It's a thorough theory, I'll admit, but it's just that- a theory. If we had done this, why draw attention to the fact that he'd gone missing? Wouldn't it be more convenient if nobody took note? Or perhaps we could have just botched the timeline so that nobody has an alibi for his disappearance."

Rex shrugged. "That's possible, too, I guess. Like I said. Just a theory. I mean, you also competed in Duelist Kingdom, right, Ryou?" Ryou nodded slowly. "Then you know that Pegasus may be a sadistic bastard, but he's no liar. I doubt there's a 13th person here."

I just took in the discussion in silence, trying to piece together a theory of my own. While Rex made a compelling argument against Serenity and Ryou, I wasn't ready to believe that they had done it. After all, we were also having quite a hard time coming up with the identity of Lia's killer. If there were a 13th person in play, that would make our Lia problem disappear completely.

The discussion went a bit quiet after that, and we all decided we'd try to question Malik himself when he woke up as he'd surely have a better idea of who had done this and our debating would have been pretty useless. As Serenity and Ryou wanted to do their own investigation of the crime scene, Rex and I agreed to stay with Malik "in case the attacker came back to finish the job" or something like that. Neither of us really believed the attacker would be coming back, though, so we passed the time chatting about everything, our situation, Pegasus's plan, even random things. At least until Malik woke up. When he woke up, he could barely speak and communicated through grunts of pain. The only coherent words he spoke were complaints about the pain in his head, which were what you'd expect from someone who had a concussion.

Rex was back within 5 minutes with both Ryou and Serenity in tow. They both had worried expressions on their faces as they moved to the sides of Malik's bed. "He looks like he's got a bit of a migraine from being hit so hard, so just keep that in mind when you start to interrogate -"

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Nostalgic Scenery - Zero Time Dilemma]_

* * *

Before I could finish my sentence, Malik shot up from his bed, nearly slamming into Ryou and Serenity, who had been leaning over him slightly. "Lorna!" he gasped and then winced, bringing a hand to his head. "Argh…" he moaned.

"Lorna?" I repeated quietly, looking over at Rex, who shrugged silently, opting to wait for Ryou and Serenity's reactions.

"Malik, are you okay?" Serenity asked gently, placing her hand on top of Malik's. "Who did this to you?"

Malik winced and looked over at Serenity. "Y-You did, Lorna… or at least… someone that looks like you… I know it couldn't possibly be you. I know you Lor'... You'd never do something like this…"

Serenity's hand moved away from Malik's and she glanced down at her lap with a disturbed expression. "I'm… I'm not Lorna. Lorna's dead."

He seemed undeterred by Serenity's words and simply rambled on. "God, I love you, Lor'... I should have told you that before it was too late, but you didn't remember who I was. You just said my name… Do you remember me now?"

Ryou sighed and walked over to the other side of the small room, turning his back to the bedridden boy. "He's delusional. We won't be able to get the name of his attacker from him now."

Rex nodded in agreement. "He did say it was 'Lorna' that killed him, though. That's still a lead… Or maybe part of one. Maybe whoever attacked him had convinced him they were Lorna -"

I looked over at Serenity who looked deeply uncomfortable with the situation. She rose from the edge of the bed and crossed her arms stiffly, staring at the door with a furrowed brow. "He thinks _I'm_ Lorna, and I'm not the one who attacked him…"

Ryou turned to look at Serenity. "Well, you were once connected to her, so maybe some parts of her are still inside you, even after her death."

"That still leaves the question of how the attacker convinced Malik that they were Lorna…" Rex mumbled.

"That is… quite the mystery. Yes…" Ryou sighed.

I cleared my throat and then said, "Well, there's 4 hours left until Pegasus's deadline and we don't have leads to the identity of the killer." I gave Serenity and Ryou a desperate look. "Please tell me you guys found something new at the scene -something that will blow this whole thing wide open…"

Ryou shook his head. "Not really." Serenity remained silent. I didn't really believe them, but I'm not sure what I expected from them. Thanks to Pegasus's new incentive, nobody was going to readily give others hints to help along the investigation. Everyone wanted that immunity for themselves.

"The body was gone…" Serenity said in a quiet voice.

"The body was _what_?" I hissed in shock.

"Sera, I know who the killer is," Malik managed to say. "It was Lorna," he grunted.

"Y-You mean Serenity?" I sputtered in disbelief.

All eyes were on Malik as he spoke slowly. "No… Not Serenity. Lorna. I saw her, blood all over the front of her clothes -"

I groaned. "Ugh! This again? Let's just go back to the subject at hand like… I don't know, _the body being missing_!"

"Was anything else weird about the scene?" Rex questioned, "Y'know, aside from there being no body?"

Ryou rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, there was the bloody hole in the wall where the spear penetrated it and some leftover blonde hairs we noticed stuck in the cracks in the wall."

While Ryou made his remarks, Serenity turned around to face Malik, then, interrupting Ryou,she spoke again. "I believe Malik."

I scoffed. "Uh, sweetie? 'Believe Malik?' Did you forget about the part where he's concussed and delusional, calling his dead girlfriend the killer? Even though she's, y'know, _dead_?" I snapped at her.

Standing her ground, Serenity shot back, "I'm not stupid, Sera. I was there. I _watched_ her die, but maybe it's like Ryou said. Her connection to me allowed her to live… You guys were talking about a 13th person, well, here she is. My brother also thought she was alive, but I never believed him, but maybe he's onto something! I could feel her emotions running through me, everything Lorna felt… and I still feel it when I see my big brother. She really cared about him; she still does. And I know he cares about her, too, so maybe that's why… That's why he knows she's alive, because she's connected to him, too. So I'm gonna trust him."

I could see Ryou resisting the urge to groan loudly. "She's _dead_. Serenity. You have nightmares about it every night! Watching her die over and over again, and you still think she's alive? Even now?" he scolded. "Are you even listening to yourself?"

Serenity didn't seem at all phased by his loss of temper, her voice as cool and firm as ever. "I know it sounds crazy, but isn't this whole thing crazy? Dead people coming back to life? Going to the realm between the living and the dead… shadow magic and games. Lorna was dead when she connected with my soul, and she was still dead when she connected with Joey's soul, and she's touched so many souls since she first got here. It might sound crazy, but if there's a chance her spirit is -"

"You're saying that you also think she's a murderer, Serenity!" he interrupted. "Would your brother really be friends with a killer? Lorna wouldn't do something like this. There could very well be a 13th person here, but it's not her!"

"Ryou, I know you think I'm making this up," Malik spoke up, "But I know what I saw. She chased me down with a knife and knocked me out. I think something is using her body and pretending to be her, but I have no idea what it could be. But it's happened before I think…"

"What do you mean it's happened before?" I asked, feeling all too aware of the fact that I was also dead.

"I'm not sure… I caught a glimpse of it when we were in the Solitude… When the Warden took over Lorna's soul in the Solitude, Lorna's body in the living realm was acting weird… Or at least that's what I gathered from talking to Ishizu."

With another long exhale, Ryou shook his head, "But back then, Lorna still had a soul; now whatever was left after the Warden attacked her has been crushed to dust -completely obliterated. The Warden can't take over something that doesn't exist anymore. And say the Warden _has_ taken over Lorna's body -are you saying that Pegasus knew about this and allowed her to board the submarine?"

"Well, he's making us play this game," Rex pointed out. "So I would put 'teaming up with a psychopathic evil spirit' within the realm of possibility."

"N-No…" Ryou stuttered. "You're wrong. I don't know what Pegasus's plans are, but he's an intelligent man and everything he does, no matter how sadistic, always has a purpose. There must be something about this game we're missing. And all of you are forgetting something important: We buried Lorna. We held a funeral for her. Her body is 6 feet underground right now."

Serenity didn't protest this time, instead clutching her hand to her chest and looking down. It looked like this was something she couldn't argue against, so she retreated into her shell moved towards the door. "I think… we need to investigate a bit more." she said reluctantly, "Sera's right. We need to find out who the killer is and we're running out of time."

"Serenity…" Ryou called out softly; his eyes were pleading but she had her back turned to him.

"I'll go with her," I volunteered. "Whoever attacked Malik might not just be after him…" I may have been a bit dense, but I knew Serenity wanted company -anyone's company but Ryou's. And with a couple of meaningful glances exchanged between me and Rex, I took off with Serenity, while Rex and Ryou stayed by Malik's side.


	9. Somnium III: Heretics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may or may not have been slightly influenced by the Witcher music while writing this.... slightly.  
> Also next chapter is finally the "Whodunit" chapter c: after 3 years of waiting.... Okay not three years, but I acknowledge my update schedule is not the most stable hehe

_[Soundtrack: Daud Encounter - Dishonored]_

* * *

"Rise and shine, boss!"

_What?_

Shadow's body is shocked with icy water and he rises from his slumber with a jump. To the right, Evren is holding a large bucket and grinning impishly. "You know you're never gonna become King of Hecatea if you sleep all through the morning!"

Shadow looks down at his body, his hands, his legs… Then he glances back at his companion. "Evren… what happened last night after I…"

" _Luna, thank you for coming to help us. I'm so glad you're here!"_

" _Shadow, you need to -"_

" _No, it can't be… Not her… This has to be a fucking joke…"_

His head starts to hurt and his eyes burn as he remembers her face, heartshaped and rosy, her big, brown eyes widening as she spots him, and her broken scream as he falls towards her -for some reason, it tears at his very soul.

"Boss? You alright?" Evren asks, putting the bucket down and scrutinizing Shadow with confusion all over her face.

"Evren, what the fuck happened last night?" Shadow snaps, inklings of the darkness he was so familiar with coating his tone with acid and bile.

She seemed to be at a loss for words and then managed to sputter. "I got no clue. I was with Rayan at the festival last night. You was off drinking with Thunder… You probably had too much to drink…" After that, she scowls. "And what're you acting like a cunt for? If you don't want to do your job then someone more qualified can do it _for_ you."

"What festival?" he pushes, staring intensely at her and ignoring her harsh words.

Evren sighs, her expression softening, and crosses her arms. "Foolish young king… how fucked up did you get last night?"

He decides to get straight to the point and gets out of bed, his imposing height dwarfing Evren, who is by no means a small woman. "Evren, last night we both went to the Grand Temple of Atlas and witness the rebirth of the Goddess Luna."

The snort that comes from Evren catches Shadow off guard, and soon, she's hunched over, clutching her gut and laughing. "The Goddess Luna? Are you listening to yourself?"

Every guffaw out of her mouth grated on Shadow's nerves. How could she not remember any part of that night? "And I fell through the skylight. I remember falling into it and Luna, she -" He sighs and shuts his eyes, trying to recall her face again.

"The skylight?" Evren questions between breaths. "Mate, you didn't die, you just had too much to drink. Maybe it was a dream," she suggests, and then with a sly glance at his groin, she adds, "If you dreamt about the Goddess, that explains your little friend there!" She then lets out a series of laughs that sound more like coughs.

Face reddening in both embarrassment and anger, Shadow grabs a cloak and begins to cover his bare body. "... shut up, Evren."

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Tatakai no Mae no Shizukesa - Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters Sound Duel 4]_

* * *

Her nightmare shakes her to her core. The last thing she remembers before losing consciousness is a man falling through the skylight, his head cracking on the stone floor of the presbytery, and her screams echoing in the hall before everything goes black.

Muffled voices and darkness are the only real things to her right now. Her eyes are open but she's covered in something thick and hot, making her sweat and also obscuring her vision. With a groan, she begins to push against the thick leather covering her, but her arms weakly struggle under its weight. Thankfully, her fidgeting doesn't go unnoticed and someone raises it off of her.

As soon as she's able to, she sucks in a deep breath, taken by surprise at how shallow her breath feels. She shudders as she tries to compensate for the air she's missing out on but her lungs only seem to take in half of what they normally would. Eventually realizing this, she starts to breathe more slowly, trying to get accustomed to the lack of air.

"Are you alright, young lady?"

Her ears perk up at the words. They're so familiar that she can't help but predict his next words: _Gods, what a miracle._

"Gods, what a miracle."

She can remember what happens next. They proceed to inform her that she was a bare corpse when they found her at their doorstep, barely any flesh on her bones, and that she healed back to life overnight. The old couple that found her had decided to cover her body in blankets and send her to get cremated the very next morning, and now they likely want to send her to a priest. At least, that's what happened before.

"What is your name, child?" the old man, brown-skinned and covered in freckles, asks her, leaning over her resting place.

Last time, she remembers she had told him she couldn't remember her name. That's a lie. She doesn't want anyone to know her real name -it's attached to so much pain, and if this is a fresh start, then she wants to take it. Fortunately, the last time around, she was given a name, and it's as good a name as any.

"M-My name is Luna," she tells him. "I'm not sure where I came from, but is this Atlantis?"

"Why yes!" the second man informs her, giving his husband a curious glance. "Are you saying you are not an Atlantean?"

She shakes her head. "No, I don't think so, but I don't remember anything else about myself." Another lie, but every memory she has before this moment is painful, both physically and emotionally.

The first man speaks again. "Perhaps you could go pray to Neptune at the Temple. The priests may be able to seek divine wisdom to help you find your way."

She nods politely and gets to her feet. "Do either of you have a robe I could use to cover my body?"

The men look at each other before the lighter-skinned one rushes off. "I believe I may have something for you."

* * *

_[Soundtrack: The Western Approach - Dragon Age: Inquisition]_

* * *

Once she's dressed, she leaves the small cottage and begins her trek to the city. She recalls the way from the first time she walked this path. She begins to think about her purpose in this universe. Surely it isn't to go to the temple, meet the king, watch the young man fall and die, only to wake up at the beginning of the day again.

She also takes this time to look around at the Atlantean scenery around her. It's a beautiful country and she's in awe at the sight of the beautifully paved pathways, even in the backwater countryside. The glimmer of reds and blues in the stone below are awe-inspiring, especially as they cast their colorful hues all over the stone of the small houses, making the bland grey several times more appealing.

She closes the robe tighter around her body and raises the hood over her ears when she feels a sudden breeze. In spite of the robe she had been so graciously given by the old couple, her body is still completely naked underneath the heavy cloak, and it makes her quite self-conscious that she doesn't have anything to bind her breasts or her nether regions.

At the city gates, she is stopped by the city guard who demands to know her reason for entering the city, to which she replies, feeling a pang of guilt at the lie she is telling. "My name is Luna, and I'm here to see King Dartz."

The guard tenses for a moment at the sound of that name, and he briefly scrutinizes her face as though he'd be able to disprove her lie just like that. Then he starts to laugh, quietly and uncertainly at first, and then uproariously. "Oh, that was a good one, lass. I almost believed you. Now tell me what you're _really_ here to do. And your real name, too."

Luna locks her jaw in frustration before saying, "That is the whole truth. Tonight there will be no moon in the sky, and you can keep me here all night to verify if you wish, but you would only be wasting precious time. Your King needs me, for there are dark times ahead. Do you want to be the reason Atlantis sinks into the sea? What would your younger sister think, Gareth?"

In all honesty, she's surprised she was able to bullshit that well; perhaps all the books she'd read about seers foretelling grim prophecies were preparing her for this very moment. The guard's name is actually something she remembers from the last time, as the old couple escorted her into the city. They had seemed quite familiar with him and his family and dealt with him quite often.

Nonetheless, her bullshit works on him, and the 6 ft boy shuffles before her, looking much smaller than her in despite being an entire foot taller than her. "M-My apologies, your W-Worship. Please forgive my foolishness." He can't even make eye contact with her as he steps to the side and lets her through.

Once inside, she decides not to head directly for the city center to meet the King, preferring to take in the new city she's in. Part of her just knows she's going to get lost, but it still hasn't sunk in, and all she wants to do is enjoy the clean air, the sound of the people crowding the narrow streets, and the feeling of freedom.

She begins to wonder if she even needs to go see the King at all, after all, she isn't _really_ Luna, and she can simply lie and make up any other name. Nobody knows her here; she has no responsibilities, no worries, no problems. Nobody expects anything of her, and she can just be free. This is a true freedom that she once thought only death would bring.

She lets out as deep a breath as she can manage with her shortened breath in a content sigh, as she passes by a herald, announcing something she doesn't quite understand. Her feet lead her into a spacious plaza, with the scent of fish and flowers rushing into her nostrils, the juxtaposition of the two scents not lost on her. Something about the plaza makes it easier for her to breathe, however, it's almost as though part of her blocked windpipe has just been unblocked.

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Bonnie at Morn Instrumental - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt]_

* * *

Standing beside a fruit merchant's stand, she overhears a woman's voice. "And out in the open, too? The guards ought to do something about those ruffians once and for all!"

Luna glances behind her at the woman, who is a patron of the fruit stand, and then at the scene the woman had just been complaining about. It's impossible to miss, really. In the center of the plaza, there is a large gathering of people of all ages, dressed in rough leathers and with weapons all conspicuously holstered on their hips. She estimates that there are at least a hundred of these warriors, all surrounding a statue of what looks like a man riding a bull with a large spear. She guesses, however, that they're not there to see the statue, but the flesh and blood man standing on the bronze man's shoulders, gripping the bronze spear to keep steady.

There's a natural charisma about this man that radiates from his position at the center of the plaza to where she is at the fringes of the crowd. His face is made up of hard lines and a jaw hand-sculpted by Michelangelo himself. His hooded eyes smirk at the crowd as his voice carries across the plaza, talking about brotherhood, resistance, and freedom. Something about his strong voice and the way he speaks makes her want to believe him.

She can't help but to gravitate towards the crowd, and before she knows it, she's pushing through the crowd, weaving through the gaps like a mouse, and making her way for the very center of the crowd, at the foot of the statue. Her eyes move from the intricately carved letters at the statue's base, over the strong body of the bull, across the bronze man's torso, and onto the rebel leader.

Her heart skips a beat when she sees his face stretch into a smile as he speaks, and that is also when she realizes one important thing. She's seen this man once before. It feels like a warped and messed up dream, but she wouldn't mistake his face, because she had just watched him die.

She doesn't even notice the gust of wind that rushes into her lungs all at once, shocking her body and also sharpening her mind. His face twists in a grimace for a second, and if she hadn't been closely watching the muscles of his face as he spoke, she might have missed it. This is also when his own eyes move down, almost as if they're searching for her. She lowers her hood over her eyes and retreats into the crowd, unprepared for him to notice her staring.

In spite of her efforts, his eyes find her small figure, and she can see his brow furrow and his gaze quickly avert to the rest of the crowd. Something about the way his violet eyes widened as he saw Luna gives her a sense of anxiety, and she takes the time while the rebel leader's attention is elsewhere to disappear into the crowd. In much the same way that she pushed to the center of the gathering, she pushes herself out of it. Lowering her hood even further as she turns and makes her way to one of the plaza exits.

"Are you lost, my dear?"

The scent of vanilla overtakes her nostrils as a voice like silk on glass fills her ears. Luna turns around and finds a woman a few years older than herself with copper colored hair that cascades down her back and shoulders in wide curls. Her eyes were even more notable -round and lined with kohl with bright green irises, set in a freckled face. The bottom half of her face is covered in a silk shawl, but Luna doesn't need to see the rest of her face to know that the woman is a masterpiece; and for a moment, Luna finds it hard to find her voice.

"I'm fine," she stutters. "I simply took a wrong turn on my way to the Temple. Now if you'll -"

The woman chuckles and grabs Luna's wrist before she can run away. "Please, allow me to escort you."

The anxiety in her heart mounting, Luna attempts another excuse, trying to tug her wrist out of the woman's solid grip. "N-No, I'm fine."

The woman must be smiling wryly under that shawl, as she simply replies. "Nonsense! I insist!" The woman pauses for a beat and then says with an airy laugh. "Oh, how could I forget my manners. I haven't introduced myself! My name is Rayan. Please allow me to escort you, as the streets can be dangerous for a beautiful young girl such as yourself, even in broad daylight, you may find yourself snatched away by some dastardly rogue."

Luna bites her lip to stop herself from making a snappy retort. "Thank you, Rayan," she says, "It is kind of you to offer, but I think I won't need your help."

Rayan's smiling eyes relax into a more neutral expression and she loosens her grip on Luna's hand. "My apologies then."

As Luna turns around, she finds herself face to face with another woman; this one is taller with short coiled hair and a face full of scars. "What do I spy here? A spy for the King, are you?" the taller woman says with a raspy voice and a mischievous look in her almond shaped eyes.

Luna's breath catches in her throat. "I'm not a spy! I'm just trying to make my way through!"

Rayan comes into view and steps beside the taller woman, leaning into her shoulder. "What's this? Has a dastardly rogue come to snatch you away? I'd say I told you so, but you wouldn't hear it."

"Please let me go!" Luna begs. "I don't have any money or any belongings other than the clothes on my body. I can't give you anything!"

The taller woman guffaws and hooks her arm around Rayan's neck. "Well, you could give us your body. You look like you have a good one. We'd make a pretty penny selling you to the highest bidder, wouldn't we Rayan-darling?"

Luna's face twists with horror at the idea of becoming sold into prostitution. "P-Please no! I'm a virgin, I -"

"Even better!" Rayan replies, reaching out to caress Luna's face. "Pretty virgins are a commodity, you know!"

Luna freezes when she hears a stern and commanding voice from behind her. "Cut it out Rayan, Evren. You're terrifying her!" She doesn't even need to turn her stiff neck to know exactly who the voice belongs to -if the thundering heartbeat in her chest is any indication.

At this, Rayan and the second woman, Evren, burst into tearful laughter, sounding like they had been holding it for quite a while. "Oh, sorry, boss!" Evren weeps. "It was just too good! The poor girl thought we was really sellin' her to a brothel. You should come 'round and see the look on her face!"

"Evren!" he scolds, coming around into Luna's field of vision.

"Sorry, boss!" She sobers up,and strokes Rayan's shoulder absentmindedly. "This here girl is a spy. Caught her running away and looking very suspicious. We ought to interrogate her and see who sent her and what she knows."

Luna's shaking eyes gaze upon the man expectantly, hoping to whatever higher deity is out there that he'd just let her move on. "Please, i'm not -I'm not a spy. I don't know anything. I don't know who you are or what's going on!"

The man smiled gently and places a hand on Luna's stiff shoulder. "Calm down; nothing is going to happen to you. Nobody is going to hurt you. However, you are a bit out of place at this rally. Can you tell me your name?"

She can't make her body stop shaking, but realizes that the man's voice has a very soothing quality to it. She nods and lowers her hood further, looking away from his face. "My name is Luna."

The hand on her shoulder stiffens and slides off. "Luna? Why are you here Luna?" His voice is colder now, almost biting, and it strikes dread into her being.

"I'm just passing through. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude! You were very inspiring!" she insists, bowing her head even further.

"Evren, Rayan. Please leave," he says quietly.

"Shadow?" Evren says doubtfully.

"Now!"

The two women don't need to be told twice to run off, leaving Luna alone with the man, Shadow. She doesn't say anything, and for a short while, neither does Shadow. It startles her when she feels his hands over the cloth on her hood. She simply lets him finger the fabric, too petrified to move. She's become very aware of her breathing, feeling the air flow in and out of her lungs freely.

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Whispers of Oxenfurt - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt]_

* * *

He sighs deeply as he looks down at her. "Luna. I need you to be honest with me; can you do that for me?"

She nods, feeling a blush creep up from her neck to her cheeks. "Yes, I'll tell you anything you need to know."

"Good. Good… That's all I want." he says calmly. "Did you really listen to my rally because you found me inspiring? Or did you do it because you recognized my face?"

Luna feels like collapsing onto herself. She doesn't even know what to tell him. "What do you mean? I don't know who you are!"

His fingers tug at her hood, bringing her so close she can smell his breath. "Now, now, Luna. I thought we agreed to be honest." He turns his face and clears his throat before questioning her again. "Perhaps I need to be clearer for you to understand exactly what I need from you. Luna, i need to know if you remember what happened last night."

"Last night?" she repeats raspily. Could it be that he remembers the ceremony and his fall to his death? There's really only one way to find out. She tries to avert her gaze, but his hold on her hood makes it difficult. "You were there… at the Temple."

His hands tighten on the fabric of the hood, his fingers brushing against her cheeks. "Then you really are her? The Goddess?"

"I- I don't know?" she whimpers. "Maybe?"

"You brought me back to life," he insists. "Why?"

"I didn't…" she mumbles. "I passed out right after you fell. I'm sorry… I didn't even see what happened after."

"Is that so?" he says quietly, almost as though he were trying to rationalize these events to himself. "So you have no idea why this day is occurring again?"

She shakes her head. "I'm just as confused. They're telling me I'm a Goddess… and what if they're right? I don't know what to do! It's too much responsibility!"

Shadow gulps and lowers Luna's hood, revealing her face to him completely, as well as the mess of dark curls that just barely touched her shoulders. She bows her head, trying to cover her face with her bangs.

"You really are Luna," he tells her stiffly.

"How do you know?"

"Because of your face," he replies. "I can't…" He tries to speak around the lump in his throat. "I thought I'd never see this face again."

"Again?" She finally manages to push herself away from him. "I've never seen you before yesterday. What do you mean? Whose face do I have?"

"The face of the woman I gave the last bits of my humanity to." His words chill her. "And even that couldn't save her." Shadow can feel his heart thudding in his chest as he speaks, watching her recoil in confusion and fear.

"Did you… love this woman?" she asks, and Shadow wants to laugh at how simple her question is.

"No," he replies, coldly "I only regret the part of myself that died with her."

Luna's expression turns from fear to curiosity as she tries to read Shadow's face. "Isn't the myth that my face would look like the most beautiful woman in the world to you?" she asks innocently. "If it's her face that you see when you look at me, then you must really think she's pretty."

Shadow scoffs. "Her? No. I'm actually very confused by the fact that your face would look like hers of all people. She wasn't an ugly girl, but not exactly a classic beauty."

She frowns and crosses her arms. "Are you saying I'm ugly?"

"Do you want me to find you beautiful, your Worship?" he shoots back with a smirk.

She groans in frustration. "So how do you know I'm not this girl?"

"Easy," he tells her. "Because whatever purgatory this is, it's my own, not hers. And you must be the angel of judgement, watching me suffer for my sins." Then he shrugs and lifts Luna's head by her chin, making the girl's stomach perform olympic level backflips beneath her skin. "Besides, you don't act like her in the slightest."

Luna's frown doesn't wane, but softens slightly. "So why are you the only one who remembers that yesterday even happened?"

He shrugs. "It's purgatory. I'm not about to question it. I guess you could say I had this coming. I won't try to rationalize it any further. I quite liked my life here in Atlantis before it ended, so I intend to enjoy my time here. If you don't want to be the Goddess, you could lie about your name and disappear into the crowd. Nobody would judge you." After saying that, Shadow bursts into laughter. "Perhaps that's what landed you here in the first place. A Goddess shunting her responsibilities and causing all of Atlantis to sink into the sea. The deaths of millions of people on your hands… Perhaps you and I are more alike than I thought." He promptly twists on his heel with a sly smirk and begins to walk back to the group of rogues.

This resolves nothing for Luna however, and by the time he's turned around and begun to walk away, she's already calling out to him again. "What am I supposed to do?" she cries out, her voice cracking.

He stops and views her from the corner of his eye. "Not my problem. Start over again with a new identity for all I care. Just stay away from me and the people I care about. You have a face I don't want to look at."

With that statement, she feels as if she'd just been stomped into the dirt, pieces of her stuck between the stones in the pavement. It's her face; she can't very well change it… However, she resolves to pick herself back up, pushing back the sense of loneliness and rejection that eats away at her. While he may not be the most pleasant of people, Shadow has a point: she can reinvent herself and move on.

"Pardon me, my lady?" someone says, interrupting her thoughts. The speaker is a large and handsome young man dressed in ceremonial armor with messy brown hair and blue eyes. There's something about him… Something divine… "I couldn't help but overhear. Did you say your name was Luna?"

So much for reinventing herself.

"I am Hermos, one of the Knights of the Temple. Impersonating a Goddess is blasphemy, so I need you to come with me and prove your claims before a council of holy men."

Well, _fuck_. She managed to convince them last time. How hard could it be to do it a second time?

 


	10. Trial Underwater

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kyahahahhaaaaaa god I'm so happy with this chapter.

_[Soundtrack: All All Apologies - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc]_

* * *

I'd like to say that, on our trip back to the crime scene, Serenity and I made some huge breakthrough in the murder investigation that really brought the killer's identity to light, but the fact of the matter was that there was just no more evidence. There was no evidence that Malik's attacker was the killer, and there was absolutely nowhere the body could have disappeared to.

Eventually word got around to everyone else that the body was gone, and we all tried to do a thorough sweep of the area, checking all drawers and all beds, and all showers… Anywhere anyone could hide a small girl's body. The girl was like 5ft tall, but she was still fully grown.

Three o'clock came around, and then four… five… and finally it was a quarter to six. No corpse, and no leads. The idea that Pegasus himself snuck in and took the body away was passed around, but it was still quite unbelievable unless there really was some sort of trap door in the meeting room, which would mean that whoever killed Lia could very well have been hidden somewhere. This, however, reminded me of what Pegasus had told us just 11 hours ago:

" _Now, everything I am about to say is completely true. Whether or not you choose to believe me is up to you. I cannot very well use the Red Truth to confirm my words, but it can be implied. First of all, Lia is dead for all intents and purposes. Someone in this room killed her. Whoever killed her is not hiding somewhere; they are in plain sight. There are no secret passageways leading in or out of the room. The only door to this room is the one you all entered from, and it was locked up tightly by Kemo. After Kemo left, nobody entered or left the room by any means. For reference, there are only twelve people in this room: Enzi Nye, Leon von Schroeder, Lia Bennett, Mako Tsunami, Marik Ishtar, Rafael Rutherford, Rex Raptor, Ryou Bakura, Serafina Vasquez, Serenity Wheeler, Sun Kwon, and Zephyr Song."_

If we could believe anything Pegasus said, then one of us had to be the killer because only the eleven of us were in plain sight when Pegasus made his announcement. That bastard knew exactly what happened to Lia and he had been keeping it to himself for the better part of the day. It made me kind of sick.

The intercom groaned and then a chipper voice passed through. "Greetings and salutations! It's nearly time for the class trial!" Pegasus then cleared his throat. "Oh, I've just been told by my lawyers that another franchise is already using that term and we can't use it… Perhaps then we can say: Murder Debate? Gosh, it just doesn't sound as catchy, does it? Oh well, I'll work on that. In the meantime, I'd like to inform you that it's currently 5:50PM. There are ten minutes left until our meeting. I hope you've put your thinking caps on and I hope you have all your theories in order, because whoever correctly finds out the killer's identity gets to leave and be with the rest of my guests. Now, doesn't that sound exciting. Don't be late. Upupupu -" There was another pause but the intercom was still buzzing with life. "I've just been told by my lawyers that I can't laugh like that either. How boring."

"We should head to the meeting room to see Pegasus," Serenity told me in a small voice. We hadn't met back up with Ryou, Rex, and Malik, so we could only assume they got the memo too.

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Trial Underground - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (because fuck Pegasus's Lawyers)]_

* * *

The atmosphere in the meeting room was tense with only five minutes to go before the meeting time Pegasus assigned. Serenity and I settled into a couple of seats on the right side of the U-bend table, directly across from Zephyr, Sun, and Rafael. Leon, Mako, and Enzi took their seats on the empty center part of the U. However, with only five minutes to spare, Rex, Ryou, and Malik still hadn't shown up.

Serenity and I exchanged looks and then fixed our eyes on the slightly open door to the meeting room, waiting for it to swing open and for our friends to come in, but as I watched the time on my phone tick down to six o'clock, they didn't come in.

"Where are they?" I hissed, digging my fingers into my bangs and lowering my head to the table. "What the fuck is going on?" I barely knew Malik and Ryou, but Rex was my best friend, and he wouldn't be late for something this important. He was way more responsible than I was.

"Should we go looking for them?" Serenity asked me uncertainly.

I raised my head to look at her and then at the clock on my phone. Only two minutes left until the meeting -no, wait, actually _one_ minute left. Mustering up some resolve, I pushed my seat back and got to my feet. "Serenity, stay here. I am going to Malik's room and to drag those assholes over here."

"But there's no time," Leon told me, having overheard my proclamation.

I gave him a half-hearted smile. "This should only take me a minute."

I jogged to the door, and just as I moved my hand to push it open, it swung open. For a split second, I was hopeful that it would be Rex behind that door, but I was wrong. I was met with Kemo's hulking form, towering menacingly over me.

"Miss Vasquez, please return to your seat. Mr Pegasus will be addressing you now," he ordered her stiffly yet professionally.

My lips turned into a grimace and I quickly said, "But there are three people who still aren't here. I just wanna go get them."

Wordlessly, Kemo pushed me out of the way, closed the large metal door, and grabbed me by the collar. I was flailing my arms towards the door, trying to shake myself out of his grasp when I heard a loud click, after which Kemo released my shirt. I scrambled over to the door and began to rattle the door handle, but it was locked.

"Miss Vasquez," Kemo scolded, "To your seat. Now!"

I scowled at him, but obeyed and took a seat next to Serenity. "You're a scumbag; you know that, right?" I told him. "You and your boss. There's a murderer here and you're just -"

I felt a nudge against my elbow and saw Serenity giving me a meaningful glance. "Sera, please!" Just so you know, I only stopped talking because Serenity told me to, not because of that weasel Kemo or his slimy boss.

Nobody else spoke up, and so we all wordlessly watched Kemo slightly lift up the sleeve on his coat to reveal a device that looked like a black digital watch. He purposefully pushed the buttons against the sides in a specific order before we realized something was happening to the room. The lights were dimming and the panels on the wall opposite the door began to flip over, revealing a set of interlinked monitors; and on those monitors was the face of none other than Maximillion Pegasus.

It was a face we had all come to loathe. His pristine silver hair covered nearly half of his face, but did nothing to hide the smug smirk. The man was grinning from ear-to-ear as if he just arrived at Disneyland and was about to board his favorite rollercoaster. He nursed a glass of wine in one hand, while the other rested on the arm of a heavily decorated chair -more like a throne, if you ask me.

"Good evening, everyone. I hope you're all cozy, because you're all in for one hell of a ride," he began. "Right now, we will be discussing the _unfortunate_ murder of Lia Bennett in this very room."

A childish voice interrupted him. "But Mr. Pegasus, there are still three of us missing. How can we have a proper discussion when three of us aren't there? What if one of them is the killer?" I bit my tongue -there was no way any of them could have been the killer, but on all other counts, Leon was right. We couldn't do this without Rex, Ryou, and Malik. Even if they weren't the killers, this means their chances of getting immunity were forfeit -and I was really banking on Rex getting that immunity and telling Weevil what was going on here.

"Oh, Leon, my boy. Not to worry. If they can't make it, the show must go on without them," Pegasus stated. "Anyway, I'm sure you all are just dying to tell me all your theories of who the killer is and get your hands on that immunity, so why don't we start this discussion -not with the whodunnit, but with the howdunnit. What exactly happened in that room?" Leon didn't look satisfied with Pegasus's answer, but didn't press the issue.

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Defendant's Lobby - Ace Attorney 6: Spirit of Justice]_

* * *

It was Sun that took charge of the discussion at that point. "Well, I think we can all agree that, on the most fundamental level, confirming the murder weapon is just as important as finding out who the killer is. That weapon is definitely the spear that was found in her body. Can everyone agree on that?"

"Yeah," Mako said with a firm nod. "There's really no room for disagreement. And that spear definitely came from the box of weapons that Pegasus gave us in the beginning of his game."

"Okay, then," Sun said, "If we're all in agreement, we need to talk about how the killer was able to get the spear out of the box."

Serenity nodded. "Well, that's easy. At the beginning of the game, Pegasus split us into two groups: Sera's group was Team Alpha, and Lia's group was Team Beta. Both of the team leaders, Sera and Lia, were given the pin code for the weapons crate. Before the lights went off, neither of them had a chance to tell anyone the pin for the crate, and the crate was locked right before the lights turned off."

"So that means only Sera or Lia could have opened the crate," Zephyr said. "We were not allowed to talk while the lights were out, and aside from some people gasping and getting startled, I didn't hear anyone say anything, not even whispers."

"Hmm…" Leon mumbled. "I actually wanna confirm something with Pegasus."

Pegasus grinned. "Ask away. Just know that I don't give out spoilers, just hints."

"Yeah…" the boy said. "Well, I wanted to ask. What do you do to people who don't obey the rules? Like say someone did actually speak when the lights were out… maybe they whispered to someone but none of the rest of us caught on. Is that considered breaking the rules and what do you do to people who break rules?"

Pegasus pursed his lips exaggeratedly. "That _is_ a good question. I take my rules _very_ seriously and obviously, I have footage of everything that happened in the room once the lights turned off, taken by a nightvision camera. If someone had, say whispered to someone else while the lights were out, I would have seen it. As for these rule breakers, I would have definitely called them out on their rule-breaking."

"And how would you call them out exactly?" Sun asked, crossing her arms over her chest and staring intently at the screen ahead of her.

"The first warning for rule breaking is issued as follows: I would call out the rule-breaker by name over the intercom immediately after the fact, and I would inform them that they have just received their first warning. The second offense, results in expulsion, which is personally carried out by Kemo. He has been ordered to find and escort anyone who has committed their second offense to me, where I will personally issue their punishment.

"And what kind of punishment would they get?" I asked, leaning in and resting my head in my hands.

For a moment, I could almost see a glint from beneath Pegasus's bangs and he smiled grimly. "Ah ah ahhh, Serafina. That's a spoiler."

"One more thing, Pegasus," Leon added. "When you issue the first warning, do you announce it on every intercom? Or just the one in the same room as the rule breaker?"

Pegasus grinned. "Well, I wouldn't want to publicly shame anyone. The first warning is issued over the intercom for all to hear. In other words, if you break any of the rules, then everybody will know. I hope this answer is satisfactory to you."

Leon nods slowly. "Yeah, I think that's all I wanted to know for now."

"Okay, but nobody broke any rules during Lia's murder, so that doesn't matter, does it?" Mako asked, eyeing the younger boy with skepticism. "Her murder was straightforward. Kemo explained the rules, left the room, and not even a minute later, the lights turned off for five minutes. When they came back on, Lia was dead. There were no rule-breaker announcements."

Zephyr snorted. "Actually, quite the contrary, Mako. This is actually very important. Nobody is allowed to talk to anyone else when the lights are out. This means that for the five minutes in which Lia was killed, nobody broke that rule."

I felt cool sweat on my neck. They were going to talk about the password to open the weapon crate -the password for which only I am privy to. God, I hate being the number one suspect in a murder investigation. Shit's stressful yo.

"You're talking about the PIN to open the box, correct?," Rafael said in a matter-of-fact tone. Called it. "Only two people in that room knew the password to open it before the murder, and only one person knew it after. Pegasus's words are absolute proof that nobody told anyone else the pin before the murder. Isn't that right, Sera?"

I felt my head sink deeper into my hands. "Yes, that's right. I should be the only person in the room who knows that password right now."

"T-That doesn't necessarily mean that Sera did it, though. Just that she had the means to do it," Leon added really quickly. That kid always had my back… He also looked pretty bright, so I hoped he had some sort of theory as to who the killer was that didn't involve me.

"Right," Serenity agreed. "You mentioned this right after Lia was murdered. You said that it's possible Lia herself opened it."

"Wait," Sun stopped her. "Before we proceed with this discussion, I think we're owed something, aren't we, Sera?"

I looked on in confusion. "What would I owe you?"

"Not me," she said. "All of us. Who knows who you told the password after the murder. It's only fair that you tell everyone else the password, too."

I glared at her, feeling slightly anxious at the idea of granting her access to an entire crate full of weapons. "Like hell I'm gonna give your psycho ass the password so you can kill me in my sleep."

"Sera," Leon said with a serious expression. "You're still a suspect for the murder. If everyone else has the password, it will be easier to trust you."

Leon's face was a mask of complete composure; it was like he wasn't the scared little boy he was after Lia's murder. He was a competitive duelist so I had watched him play a few times and I recognized this face in particular -it was the exact same face he had on during a duel. I think that was what really convinced me to trust him -dude was on par with Yugi Muto as far as I was concerned, but don't tell Rex I said that.

"Alright," I finally said. "The PIN to the box is 4-5-9. Now everyone except for Rex, Ryou, and Malik know it."

Sun smirked. "Are you saying you didn't tell your friends the password?"

"Did I fucking stutter?" I replied coldly. I could feel the hooded trio's suspicious stares on me, and you know what, the three of them can go fuck right back to the satanic cult they came from.

With that same infuriating smirk on her face, Sun leaned back in her seat with her hands raised. "Fine. I believe you."

"So at this point," Enzi spoke up. "There are two possibilities, right? The possibility that Lia opened the crate, and the possibility that Sera opened the crate. So it makes sense that we start to reason with only one of these scenarios in mind and then go back, right?"

"That's a good idea," Sun replied. "Then let's start with the easiest scenario: Sera opened the crate."

"Why me?" I cried out incredulously, jumping up in my seat and sending tiny daggers of hate in her direction. "Why not start with Lia?"

Sun shrugged. " _Did I fucking stutter?_ " she mocked in a sickly sweet tone. God, what I would have given to punch that bitch in the boob. "Like I said, it's easier. If you're the one that opened it, the most likely possibility is that you killed her. Unless someone forced you to open it, but seeing as you haven't said anything to that effect, I'm assuming that didn't happen."

Serenity shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she witnessed my glaring match with Sun. "Um, Sera," she said. "What if you just walk us through everything you did and everything you heard during the five minutes when the lights were out."

Sun nodded in assent. "It's probably a good idea if all of us say what we did and heard during the blackout. Sera can go first, though."

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Out of Control - Ajin]_

* * *

I unclenched my jaw and sighed before settling down in my seat, trying to remember everything that happened in those five minutes. "First things first, I guess. I didn't do anything during the blackout, though it might be hard to believe. I was standing by the door before the blackout and I stayed there the entire time. I guess because of the adrenaline, I don't really remember everything I heard. I couldn't really concentrate on anything, but I heard Leon make a small noise and I think I heard Lia's voice too. It must have been when she was attacked. She kinda let out a small shout… I'm sure you all heard it too, right?"

Leon nodded. "Yeah, I remember it, too. It must have been when she was attacked by the killer, but it's strange that we didn't hear much noise afterward…"

"Strange how?" Zephyr questioned. "The killer gagged her with a spear. I doubt she would have been able to make any noise after that."

With an unsatisfied sigh, Leon mumbled, "Maybe that's it, yeah."

"I'll go next," Serenity piped up. "Since we started with Sera, we can all testify in a clockwise order. So Enzi can go after me."

Enzi nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"I was standing on the left side of the room, close to where Lia's body was found," she began, her eyes drifting to the wall behind Sun, Zephyr, and Rafael, which was dark with Lia's remains. If only we knew what had happened to her body. "I was too scared to move, but I remember I held Sun and Ryou's hands the entire time, so I can vouch for their alibis, and even though Ryou isn't here, Sun can confirm my alibi, too."

All eyes shifted to Sun, who nodded. "Yeah. I remember someone holding my hand, and when the lights came back on, I realized it was Serenity."

"I also remember Leon yelling," she continued. "And Ryou stumbled, almost as if someone pushed him into me. It might have been the killer… And I remember hearing lots of footsteps and people moving around."

I glanced thoughtfully at Serenity as she finished her testimony. So that meant three people who have alibis for Lia's murder, and I was sure more alibis would pop up later.

Enzi continued from here, his deep drawl making me realize just how much older than all of us he was. "I was standing by the door near the right side of the room during the blackout. When the lights turned off, I grabbed Mako's arm and moved him towards the table and away from the crowd so we wouldn't risk getting killed. When we got there, we bumped into Leon and startled the poor fellow. I knew it was him because of his height and because we saw him when the lights came back on."

"So that counts for all of our alibis, too," Mako added. "Because after we ran into Leon, we stayed put." And here we are with three more alibis. "Unless Leon has anything to add, I guess that's our testimony."

Leon shrugged. "I don't have much to add. I just remember that for a solid few minutes after Lia shouted, I didn't hear anything aside from breathing and footsteps. And the footsteps stopped pretty soon, too. If we accept that the three people closest to the body, Serenity, Ryou, and Sun, all had alibis, then whoever killed her not only did it in five minutes, but also took the time to position themselves away from her to draw suspicion away from them when the lights came back on."

"That's a good point," Zephyr said. "Well, if you're done with your testimony, I'll continue with mine. My alibi is Sun. She grabbed onto me when the lights went out and didn't let go until they came back on." He raised his wrist, letting the fabric of his sleeve fall and reveal his slightly blue wrist. "I even have the bruise to show for it." I glanced at Sun who didn't even look apologetic. This woman was stone cold. If that was how she treated her allies, imagine how she treated her enemies… "I can testify to hearing pretty much the same shit as everyone else."

"I suppose it's my turn to testify," Rafael said. "When the lights turned off, I was standing on the rightmost side of the room where Kemo had told my team to stand. Aside from moving towards the back wall, I did not make any other movements. I don't really have the luxury of an alibi, but I was pretty far from where the murder happened. If I wanted to get to Lia without alerting the people standing on the right or left of the room, I would have had to move over or under the tables, which would have taken some time. While I'll admit it's not impossible that I made my way under or over the tables in the dark without making a sound and murdered Lia, it's improbable."

"I'd like to add that when the lights turned on, Rafael was at the back of the room," Sun commented. "So not only would he have had to maneuver across the room to get to her, but he would have had to go back to where he started as well -all in the span of 5 minutes."

"So the only people left are Marik and Rex, but they're missing right now," Zephyr noted, crossing his arms and tilting his head to glance at the door. "Though I'm willing to bet that it wasn't Rex. Even without an alibi, he's a member of Team Beta, and Pegasus would have called him out if he was the one that did it."

"Which means…" I started, "that the most suspicious people are me, Rafael, and Malik, right?"

"Exactly," Sun replied. "And all three of you are on Team Alpha."

How bloody convenient…

"Though, I doubt Rafael has anything to do with it," Sun added. "I think you and Marik conspired together. You opened the crate of weapons and pulled out the spear. Remembering where Marik is, you handed him the spear and helped him grab Lia and keep her quiet. That's why we only heard her cry out or struggle. She couldn't possibly have fought against the both of you."

I rolled my eyes. "Nice theory, Nancy Drew. Did you forget about the part where the body was covered in blood? Do you see any blood on me?"

Sun looked triumphant as she said, "Maybe it's somewhere nobody else can see. Why don't you take off that leather jacket so we can see the inside of it?"

I suddenly felt self-conscious. The jacket was the only thing keeping my skin from breaking out in goosepimples. "Do you seriously think I would use my jacket to keep blood off of me? What a waste of a good jacket."

"Well, if you're innocent, Sera, you've got nothing to hide, right?" Leon said in a much kinder tone than Sun.

I growled in frustration and then snapped. "Fine! I'll take it off." I shrugged off the beautiful white leather jacket and then held it up, showing them the light pink satin on the inside, completely unstained -well, save for a couple of pit stains that nobody could really see. But I mean, could you blame me? This entire thing was making me sweat harder than a sinner in church and I wasn't even guilty of anything. "See! I told you!"

Sun pursed her lips in silence before nodding. "Well, there goes that theory."

"What about Marik?" Mako asked solemnly. "He's still suspicious, and so's Rafael."

"Yeah…" Leon said slowly. "I find it really suspicious that he claimed to be attacked during the lunch period, but that we didn't hear a warning from Pegasus. After all, harming someone when the lights are on is against the rules."

I gasped. "Shit. You're right. We were trying to figure out who attacked him earlier and we were having a hard time because all of us were together nearly the entire time when he said he was being attacked. Maybe he just wanted some time to himself while he knew everyone else was in the mess hall."

"Time for what?" Serenity asked, a deep frown on her face.

"Time to hide Lia's body!" I exclaimed, feeling like Phoenix Wright putting all the puzzle pieces together. "He lied to me and Rex about going to find you and Ryou so we wouldn't question him, and then he got to work on hiding her so nobody would be able to find anymore clues and he wouldn't be caught."

"Just a question, though," Enzi interrupted me. "I'm actually surprised I hadn't thought of this earlier, but say one of us killed Lia. What is the punishment for killing someone in the first place? What would the incentive be to hide this act, especially if this is all just what Pegasus intended?"

Just then, Pegasus, who had been uncharacteristically quiet the entire time spoke up. "I'm glad _someone_ finally asked," he said in a cheerful voice that bounced irritatingly on every single one of my nerves. "I suppose I should have mentioned this earlier, but it holds no bearing over the nature of this murder. If you do not manage to discover the identity of the murderer by the end of this meeting, the successful murderer will be granted immunity and will effectively be considered a winner of this game. This means that the previous rule about immunity is void because it would mean that none of you got the correct answer."

"And what if the killer just admits to it during the meeting?" I asked.

"Then they forfeit their immunity and neither you nor the killer get immunity," he explained.

"And what happens to the killer if they aren't successful and we discover who they are in this discussion?" Sun pressed.

"Then they do not get immunity, and whichever one of you exposed them will be granted immunity. In this case, the killer will remain among you."

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. That just meant that whoever found out who the killer was would get immunity, but they would also doom the rest of the group into spending another day with the convicted killer. The fact that it was against the rules to harm people when the lights were on didn't really give me that much comfort.

"So let's just give up," I replied. "If we let the killer go then none of us will be stuck with them after the meeting is over, right?"

"Wrong," Sun reminded me. "Immunity means they get to hang out with the other guests -our friends and families, so of course that's a bad idea."

"It's fine," Zephyr remarked. "We just find out who this motherfucker is,and whoever is left behind can tie the killer's ass up so nobody dies. Simple."

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Totem Blume - Umineko No Naku Koro Ni]_

* * *

"In that case," Leon said finally, pushing his chair back and standing up. "I'd like to submit to you guys my theory on who killed Lia if you'll have it." All eyes were now on him.

"The floor is yours, kid," Zephyr replied. "Let's see what you've got."

"I don't think it was Sera or Marik or Rafael," the boy said. "Actually, I don't think it's anyone in room either."

"Um, kid," Zephyr interrupted. "That's fucking impossible, unless you're saying Ryou or Rex did it -and one of them has an alibi, the other was on Team Beta."

"I know! But please!" Leon pleaded. "Just hear me out. I'm certain of this. Lia was the only person in the room other than Sera who knew the PIN to the box. I already told you before that I think Lia was the one who opened the box. First, I thought that maybe someone forced her to open it, but I don't think that's what happened either. I think she opened it of her own free will with the intent to murder someone."

"So you're saying she attacked someone and they retaliated by pinning her against the wall with a spear?" Mako asked uncertainly, tilting his neck to look at Leon.

Leon shook his neck. "No, I don't think so. If she were going to kill someone they would have to have been someone nearby. The closest people to her were the ones gathered around the door and Ryou, who was standing beside Team Beta's table. Having listened to everyone's testimony, it's clear that nobody recalls being assaulted by a small spear-wielding girl, correct?"

"Where are you even going with this?" I asked him, feeling my heart thudding in my chest in horror, because contrary to my question, I had a very bad feeling about where this was going.

"Simple," Leon replied with an intense expression on his face. "Mr. Pegasus… Everyone… I think Lia is the murderer"

There was a slimy sense of discomfort wrapping itself around my chest as he spoke. "But how?" I asked, losing my voice for a split second.

"Well, I started to suspect it when I discovered the bloody bobby pin on the ground right after the murder, but I wasn't sure of it until I heard everyone's testimony just now. Here's what I think happened:

"Upon seeing the weapons in the crate, Lia had already started to formulate her plan, and as soon as the lights turned off, she didn't hesitate to go to the crate and pull out a weapon. We can account the bloody bobby pin to her having knelt down on the pin, scratching her knee in the process. That's when we heard her let out a cry of pain.

"After opening the box and pulling out the spear, she wiped off the blood on her knee with her hand. She stumbled around in the dark looking for the wall, and that's when she bumped into Ryou.

"The next thing she did was stand with her back against the wall on the tips of her toes, holding the spear in her mouth with both hands. She made sure to position herself well because she only had one shot at doing this right. Then, using all the strength she could, she pushed the spear through her head and the wall. I'd say she probably was conscious long enough to remember to let go of the rod, but not long enough to remember to wipe away her handprints, which we found on the rod afterwards."

There was a pregnant pause at the end of his tale in which each of us sent the boy our bewildered and confused stares. "Um, Leon," I said, "No offense, but what in the everloving fuck are you on? And can I have some, too? Because that is the most ridiculous sounding thing thing I've ever heard, and I came back from the fucking dead, so I know ridiculous."

Leon looked slightly offended, but didn't waver in his resolve. "It doesn't matter what you think. This is the truth, isn't it, Pegasus?"

In my disbelief at hearing Leon's story, I wasn't paying attention to Pegasus's giant face on the monitor. The man was grinning from ear to ear like a kid on Christmas morning. He looked like he was going to burst out laughing at any moment. Clearly he wasn't buying this theory either.

"Congratulations, Leon," Pegasus said. "You're absolutely right."

See? I told y'all… _Wait what?_

"Hold the fucking phone!" I snapped at the screen. "Are you telling me that bitch killed herself by impaling herself against a fucking wall? How the fuck does that make sense? This has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. There are so many easier ways to kill yourself!"

The billionaire chuckled to himself. "That's exactly what I'm saying, Serafina. Suicide is such a grim affair, isn't it."

"You're shitting me," Zephyr said, sounding completely defeated from across the room. "No fucking way." Rafael and Sun weren't speaking, but they were also grimacing in shock and displeasure.

"But why do something so elaborate? Why go to all that trouble?" Serenity said quietly, the horror in her voice muted but still evident. She couldn't even look up from the table.

Leon stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know. That's what confused me, too. I almost wrote this theory off for that very reason, but I think maybe she did it so that she could frame someone else. Maybe the entire reason she killed herself was so that she could blame someone else for her murder. And it almost worked. Everyone was ready to claim that Marik or Sera did it…"

The screen showing Pegasus's face went dark for a moment before another image was plastered over it, one showing this very room in shades of green and grey. I recognized it as the five minutes of the blackout. We all watched in stunned silence as everything we testified about was shown in high definition before us. However, all eyes were on Lia. She moved like a robot towards the weapons crate, even stumbling when her knee lands on my bobby pin. It all took place exactly as Leon narrated it. With the video proof, there was absolutely no way to deny it. We were all innocent, but the truth was much more horrifying than any of us could have even imagined.

No fucking way… There was absolutely no fucking way. I must have been in topsy-turvy land, because there was no way this made sense in any universe. And yet, here we were, watching Lia dangle against the wall after pinning herself. In fact, she had managed to get herself up there in three minutes and fourteen seconds according to the timestamp at the bottom.

It was all so fucked and I didn't even know whether I was angry or sad or confused. All of my emotions simply came out in one horrified shriek. "GOD DAMMIT!"


	11. Between Life and Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been waaaaaaaaaay too long since the last update. I have no excuses, so without further ado, here's the next chapter.

_[Soundtrack: Engineering - System Shock 2]_

* * *

The mood in the submarine was more somber than ever after the grim revelation from Pegasus's meeting. We were relieved that none of us were murderers, but the fact that Lia had killed herself and made it look like a murder… Who would do that? I mean, I didn't like to speak ill of the dead, but fuck it we're all dead, and without even a hint of guilt, I could say fuck that crazy bitch and what she put us all through. Lia was one sick motherfucker. Somehow, this felt even worse than murder.

Our group was forced to stay in the meeting room as Kemo escorted Leon out of the room. With the intensity of Lia's death still making us dizzy, we had all forgotten about Pegasus's immunity rule. I had hoped Rex would get the immunity, but the fact that the youngest one of us gained immunity was still a pretty good outcome all things considered and nobody really complained; we were all rather relieved. This kind of "game" was no place for a kid anyway.

After being released, the first course of action for Serenity and me was searching for Rex, Malik, and Ryou; the three of them were still missing. We were even joined by everyone else, even Rafael, Zephyr, and Sun to our surprise. I guess they were just curious or were hoping to catch the three of them red-handed. I mean, it was no secret that they didn't trust us and we didn't trust them.

The first places Serenity and I checked were their rooms, but all three of them seemed to be empty. The rest of the crew let us check inside their rooms as well; including the bathrooms and inside their closets. The cafeteria was closed so there was no way they were in there… unless it was locked while Rex, Ryou, and Malik were still in there, but I was pretty sure the cafeteria closed just before we all found Malik in the chest of drawers in Lia's room. The public showers were also empty, which meant we had searched up and down the incredibly limited area we were trapped in, but still no sign of our friends.

I couldn't stop the throbbing organ in my chest from climbing up my throat and cutting off my oxygen. Rex and Weevil were the only people I had in this damn universe, and I wasn't going to lose 50% of my world because of Pegasus. I began to slam open bedroom doors with complete disregard to their occupants, wondering if there was anything I had missed, or some area I had forgotten to check. How could three grown teenage boys just disappear?

It was around the time of Pegasus's 8pm dinner time announcement that I found myself collapsing at Rex's door, defeated. I could feel my stomach growling at the idea of the mess hall being open again, but I couldn't find it in me to eat when I still hadn't found Rex. I sighed and buried my face in my hands. "Sera, you goddamn idiot… If I had just left right before the meeting to look for them…"

"You wouldn't have found them," a stern but otherwise friendly voice remarked from beside me. I turned to find someone I didn't even expect settling down beside me against Rex's door. With that shaggy black hair and untrimmed goatee, it was obviously Zephyr. "This game isn't what it seems," he told me, leaning down to meet my gaze.

"What do you want, Zephyr?" I asked sharply, glaring at him.

He rolled his eyes before leaning back against the door and looking ahead at the opposite dorm room -Ryou's room. "I'm trying to be nice, doofus."

"Oh, and I'm supposed to believe you and your weird culty friends after the way you treated me before?" I snapped back. What was his game? Did he just forget the past 12 hours?

He groaned. "Oh, geez. You mean us suspecting you for murder and all? Well, I mean, wouldn't you think that would be understandable all things considered? Fuckin' hell; how were we supposed to know the crazy bitch would off herself? You were the most suspicious person. But now that we know you're innocent, it's all water under the bridge."

I scoffed, but kept listening anyway. "Water under the bridge, huh?"

I saw him grin from the corner of my eye. "And the weird culty outfits? Not my idea, personally, but my boss has a pretty interesting aesthetic."

"Boss?" I asked. "Is your boss Cthulhu?"

For the first time since I met him, Zephyr let out a genuine laugh, using the back of his bony wrist to cover his mouth. "That's actually pretty close!" Once his laughter had died down, he mumbled, "You actually really remind me of her, y'know?"

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Clarification - Zero Time Dilemma]_

* * *

I felt my heart skip a beat -and not in the gross romantic way, because lord knows I hadn't been romantically interested in a man since I punched little Owen for stealing my Sailor Moon pen in the 2nd grade -in an uneasy sense of recognition. "Her? Who are you talking about?" I fucking knew exactly who he was talking about, but I was fascinated; I wanted to know more… This girl that everyone knew but me… Just who was she?

"Lorna… She passed away a couple of months ago… I'm sure your friends can tell you all about her. They knew her much better than I did."

"Please just tell me what you know," I pleaded. "She may not be here, but I know she's at the heart of this. She must be related to this mess we're in."

Zephyr flexed his shoulders and sighed. "Not much to tell. Besides she's the lucky one. She got out of this and got to die like a normal person. We're all stuck here. Talking about the past is irrelevant anyway…"

His answer wasn't helping me at all. I had to push him more. "Zephyr, before Malik went missing, he said he saw Lorna on this submarine somewhere. Whether she's dead or not, she's not irrelevant."

"Then Malik was hallucinating. You said he was bonked over the head, right?" he said, pointing to his temple. "Malik was in love with her, or at least that's what it looked like. Lorna wasn't the best duelist, but that guy… He bailed her out more than once. She would have died long before I met her if Malik wasn't looking out for her, but her clumsiness caught up to her. She didn't deserve what happened to her -not by a long shot -but you could see it coming a mile away." He paused for a moment as if recalling Lorna's last moments. "Anyway, when a guy loves a girl that much, his mind's gonna show him what he wants to see."

"So you saw it? The moment Lorna died?" I asked, my curiosity whizzing through my brain like rollercoaster in a loop.

"Nope," he replied curtly. "I got my ass out of there before that happened. We all did so we wouldn't die with her, but she was too late and so she went down with the ship. She's gone for sure. I've even been back there… That realm, the Solitude, it doesn't exist anymore."

"What if he was telling the truth though?" I insisted. "What if Malik was telling the truth and he really saw Lorna here? Would that even be possible?" I was skeptical of course, but I had to cover all my bases.

He grunted and made a noncommittal gesture. "I mean, I can't really be sure. I heard her friends buried her, though, so if by some miracle her soul pieced itself back together and got back into her body, she'd be six feet under and probably die again. For her sake, though, I hope she really did die. I hope she moved on. Being alive sucks. I didn't come back here by choice."

"I don't know…"I muttered looking at the floor. "I was murdered. I wish I hadn't been, but it is what it is, y'know. I figured this was God's way of telling me that He knows it was unfair that I died so soon, and that I really did deserve a second chance."

"You believe in God?" Zephyr replied dismissively.

"Well, I was raised Catholic," I informed him. "I wasn't sure whether God was still on my side after I came out, but the fact that I'm here means He has to be real, right? Like all this afterlife stuff… it's real, right?"

"Well, if He took you from being a murder victim to being another potential murder victim, you really gotta wonder," he mused. "Anyway, I'm not the type to tell anyone what to believe. I'm not even sure what I believe. Y'see, I wasn't murdered. I killed myself. I hoped there wasn't an afterlife and that it would just be nothing, and yet here I am."

A pang of grief shot through me. Sure, I didn't know this guy that well, but you wouldn't be human if someone told you that and you felt absolutely nothing. "Why would you do that? I-If you don't mind my asking."

He shrugged, speaking calmly as if he was simply telling me about the plot to a TV show he'd seen. "I dunno. Rough childhood? Bad breakup? Mental health issues? Money issues? Long story short; I was a broke transgender gay dude. Went off my depression meds because I couldn't afford them anymore -and that backfired magnificently." He chuckled as if he had just told a joke only he could understand, but I could sense something dark underneath.

"Thank you for sharing…" I told him quietly, putting a hand on his arm. "I guess everyone here has gone through some shit… Maybe that's why Lia did it."

Zephyr shrugged. "Nah, I don't think she did it for that reason. I know suicide, and that shit wasn't suicide. She definitely wanted to implicate someone; that's a fact. Now, what she'd stand to gain from doing that is a different story altogether. Unless she had some unfinished business or personal vendetta against one of us, I doubt she'd go to all that trouble."

"You're right… But if she had an agenda, what's the point if she's not around to stick it through? Unless she's working for someone."

I felt him detatch his arm from my grip and wrap it around his knees. "You asked if it was possible for Lorna to still be around earlier, right?" he questioned, and not even waiting for my reply he said, "Something actually crossed my mind. A way for her to be both alive and dead at the same time, but I'd need to ask Malik a few questions about this 'Lorna' he said he saw."

"Too bad we can't find him," I grumbled.

Zephyr nodded solemnly. "Right… Did he by any chance tell you guys anything about Lorna? Anything out of the ordinary?"

I immediately recalled his lightheaded state when he first woke up. He was saying all kinds of weird shit, but I still remembered what he told us. "Well, he started calling talking to Serenity as if she was Lorna… I figure that's normal because I understand Serenity was her anchor before she died. But he did say one weird thing that I'm still confused about…"

"Weird like what?" he pressed.

I leaned my head back against the door and looked up at the dark ceiling in thought. "She had blood all over the front of her clothes… and she chased him down and attacked him. He said that she was the one that killed Lia. Obviously he was delusional because we saw the security footage and we know that Lia killed herself. But if he really did see Lorna covered in blood, then whose blood was it?"

"And where is she hiding?" Zephyr added.

I put a finger under my chin thoughtfully and said, "D'ya think it's her blood? Like maybe when Lorna died, she stayed in the same clothes and just woke up like that or -"

"Uh uh," Zephyr shook his head. "Not possible. She didn't die in this world; she died in the Inbetween. So on this side, it would have looked like she died in her sleep. No blood."

"In the Inbetween, huh? And how did she die exactly?"

He sighed. "It's a long story, and I think we should prioritize finding Malik, Rex, and Ryou, don't you agree?"

My curiosity still burned at the back of my mind, but he was right; we didn't have time to keep talking about Lorna. It was time to act. "So what were you saying earlier about Lorna being alive and dead at the same time and what does it have to do with Malik?"

He began to rise to his feet, extending a hand to help me up as well. "It's just something about the way Malik's body works. You might have noticed, but Malik doesn't have his own body; he shares it with his anchor."

"Right… I see what you mean." I absolutely did not see where he was going with this.

He raised his brows and scoffed. "Anyway, I just need to ask him what he saw exactly. There's a chance she's 'around' but not alive." Around? I wasn't really certain what he meant, but he seemed to be onto something even if I didn't know what that something was.

"And does her being alive or around or whatever change anything for our situation at all?" I asked, struggling to keep up with Zephyr as he began walking down the hall. I wasn't sure where he was going, but I didn't want to go have dinner with everyone else.

He glanced back at me, stopping briefly in his tracks. "It changes everything."

"I don't see…"

"It's not a good thing," he interrupted me. "Putting it simply, last time we all saw Lorna, she was possessed and trying to kill us."

"O-Oh…" I mumbled. "How'd that happen? Long story?"

Zephyr smiled apologetically. "Pretty much. That's why we need to find Malik, Rex, and Ryou and let's hope it's not too late."

"Are you saying Lorna's going to kill them?" I asked, my legs dragging me after him as he continued walking down the hall. I soon realized he was trying to take us both to the showers.

"Pretty much."

"Okay… it's a solid 'yikes' from me." This past day, everyone had been building Lorna up, but I decided I would rather not ever interact with her. I wasn't sure how I came back to life, but Domino City wasn't such a bad place, and I would rather stay there and not die prematurely; and if avoiding anything relating to Lorna was the way to do it, then that was the plan. The only greater good I cared about was my own.

Zephyr pushed open the door to the showers and gave me a sort of "ladies first" gesture. I gave him a puzzled expression but went into the showers nonetheless, hearing the door shut behind me as he entered as well. For a moment, it crossed my mind that he and I were on different teams, meaning that this could very well be a ploy to get me on my own and murder me. The lights were still on, though, so I assumed that, for the moment, I was safe.

"So what are we doing in the showers? We already looked for the boys in here. Is there some sort of hidden passage we missed?" I asked, leaning against the tiled wall beside the door and crossing my arms over my chest.

My eyes surveyed the room again and I couldn't help but notice something I had missed the first time around. "Hey wait," I muttered, walking over to the pristine sinks and kneeling down. One of them looked like it had been used recently, but that wasn't too out of the ordinary; however, what really stuck out, was the fact that the solid porcelain edge of the sink seemed to have a slight dark smudge on it -something we hadn't really looked at before.

"What's up?" Zephyr asked, his form, more akin to a skyscraper than an actual human being, looming over my crouching self.

I rubbed my thumb over the smudge. It wasn't just dark, but there was a sort of maroon shade to it. "Is this blood?" I mumbled. "I mean, Malik said he was attacked in here…"

"But it could be Rex's or Ryou's," he replied.

"Right…" I mused. "But where  _are_  they?" I got to my feet and half-heartedly eyed the doors to the shower stalls, looking for more hints of blood or anything really.

"Well, I know one way to find out," I heard him say. However, as I turned my body to face him, I felt a strong force push against the side of my head, causing it to abruptly slam against the tiled wall between the shower stalls. Before my shock could even register, the world around me faded to black.

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Forest - Fran Bow]_

* * *

_Sera?_

"H-Huh?"

_Sera? You up?_

"Who's there?"

It was pitch black around me and cold as ice. I didn't like anything about this. Abort fucking mission.

_Get the fuck up!_

I couldn't even reply before I felt a sharp blow hit the side of my ribs. I let out a yelp and shuddered to full awareness, forcing my eyes to open. "What the fuck?"

I sat up, and began to take in my surroundings, and immediately I was aware of one thing: I was definitely not in Kansas anymore -or Pegasus's submarine. The world around me was vibrant and haunting, a melancholy mixture of mossy greens, deep browns, and shadowy blues. I was in a clearing in the middle of the forest.

Of course, it would be foolish to forget one more thing: I wasn't alone. There was someone else here with me. Fucking Zephyr. Immediately, my curiosity turned to white hot rage.

"You piece of shit!" I ranted, getting to my feet and straightening my back to make myself feel taller. "What the fuck did you do that for?"

He didn't look the least bit surprised at my reaction or even taken aback. In fact, he looked rather bored, as he rubbed the back of his head and averted his gaze. "Oh, you mean knocking you out? Well, I had to get you here somehow, yeah?"

"There are more civil ways, asshole!" I complained.

He shrugged. "Well, this way worked, so stop complaining."

"Where's here anyway? Where did you take me?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips and surveying the area again. How long had I been unconscious?

He let out a short gasp and then looked into my eyes. "You… didn't figure it out already? We're in the Inbetween obviously."

My heart leaped into my chest and my jaw froze. "Shut. Up."

"Why do you look so surprised?" he asked with a frown.

I cleared my throat and looked down at the dew-soaked grass under my boots. "I -erm -haven't been here before."

"Haven't been where?"

"The Inbetween," I confessed. "I haven't been here before. I'm just gonna need a minute…"

There was a look of stark disbelief on his face. "What do you mean you've never been to the Inbetween before? Literally all of us have been here."

I shrugged. "Well, not me and Rex."

"Well… that's bizarre."

"Okay, you can stop rubbing it in now," I said. "And you can tell me what we're doing here."

"We're gonna try and find Marik."

"You mean Malik?"

"No," Zephyr insisted sternly. "Marik with an R. If there's anyone who can help us find Malik, it's him. But he's been lost in the Inbetween for a couple of weeks now."

"Wait… is he Malik's anchor?" I asked, feeling uncomfortable. Zephyr mentioned earlier that Malik was sharing a body with his anchor, meaning that the body Malik had been using to interact with me and everyone else wasn't actually his own body.

He nodded solemnly. "I don't know if this world exists as a fictional world in your original universe, but in mine, it's a TV show," he said. "At some point during the Battle City finals, Marik does end up leaving his body and replaced by an alternate version of himself, but at this point in the series, he should be a completely normal guy in his own body. Our interference caused him to get lost. His character arc was never fully completed because of Malik's presence. And if Zorc is also dead like I've heard he is, then we've possibly irreparably altered the course of the entire show."

I nodded as I took this all in. "Except this isn't actually a show. These are people's lives," I reminded him.

He scratched the scruff on his chin and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I guess things were much easier when I knew what would happen in the future, y'know?"

"So who's Zorc?" I asked. Whatever show this was, I never watched it. Even if it was a show in my dimension, I probably wouldn't have been interested.

Zephyr completely ignored that question however, as his gaze turns to the left into the thicket of trees. His face immediately twisted into a mix of concern and fear. "Sera, get down," he said in a hushed voice, grabbing me by my shoulders and forcing me to crouch with him.

"What the fu-"

He slapped a hand over my mouth and tried to still his own breathing.

I tried to look in the direction he was looking and spotted something completely out of this world. It was taller than even Zephyr and seemed to be completely made of black smoke, almost blending in with the trees in the darkness. In fact, if Zephyr hadn't noticed it first, I probably wouldn't have seen it. Just looking at it instilled a sense of wrongness in me, like this was something that wasn't supposed to exist. It was slender and anthropomorphic and reminded me of a demon. I could just imagine it being a being of pure hate, and even if I didn't understand completely what it was, I got the sense that if the wisps of black smoke that emanated from its body touched me, I'd get burned.

The creature walked -or perhaps drifted would be the more appropriate term here -towards Zephyr and me, but it didn't look like it had noticed us. In fact, its movements seemed to be more aimless than anything. I wondered what it wanted or what it was looking for. Did it want to hurt us? Even hidden by the shadows as we were, I feared for our lives. If I thought Pegasus's submarine was scary, compared to that, this shit was hard mode.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting with bated breath, the figure seemed to shudder, sigh, and dissipate, and suddenly, the entire atmosphere of the forest brightened.

I wasn't sure if it was safe to speak yet, so I turned to look at Zephyr, whose eyes were still fixed on the position where the demon once was. His arms around me made it hard to move, but I managed to move my arm just enough to poke him in the shoulder.

"She's gone…" he mumbled, his voice much weaker now.

I let out a sigh of relief. "What was that thing?"

He shook his head. "That's the spirit that created the Solitude, the Warden. She's the reason we're all here."

"What?" I gaped at him. "You mean she brought us here?"

"Well not her, specifically. She had a lackey do it for her…" His voice trailed off as he clutched his head, wincing in pain. "Ah sorry. Every time I try to remember how I know this, my head feels like it's going to burst."

I looked at him in concern, shrugging his arm off of me and trying to get to my feet. "Is it just that specifically?"

Still grimacing, he got to his feet as well. "No. It's more than that. It's like something was deleted from my brain, something that I was supposed to remember but can't. And whenever I try, it feels like I'm physically stretching my brain, or squeezing it like a wet sponge, but nothing is coming out."

"But what could you have forgotten?" I asked.

"The person who brought us here," he replied, inhaling sharply as if just saying those words was painful. "That much is blatantly clear. It's like that person in particular was deleted. I feel like I must have met them and talked to them to know what I know. I remember what they told me but not them specifically."

"Freaky," I replied, crossing my arms. "What would make you forget them?"

"The only thing I can think of is if they died, too," he said. "It's another one of those things I know about but don't remember being told. Like if you die in the Inbetween, your existence is just deleted. Maybe this means from our memories…"

I rattled my brain a bit for something to say in reply. "Okay, hold the phone a bit. This doesn't compute with me. You die here and people forget about you? That's fucking bullshit and you know it."

"Huh?"

"I may not know much about the Inbetween," I continued, "But I know for a fact that you don't get 'forgotten about' if you die here. I've been hearing about how great of a friend Lorna was to everyone and how tragic her death was from everyone and their mom! If it's like you say it is, why does everyone remember her? Either Lorna isn't dead, or whoever told you that was lying!"

For a moment, Zephyr is stunned to silence. I could see his eyes rolling around in their sockets almost as if he were thinking at the speed of light.

"You look like you just realized something," I remarked, putting a hand on my hip and cocking my head in curiosity.

"Sera, either you're an accidental genius or I'm a fucking moron!" he exclaimed.

I was surprised by the praise, my eyes widening, then I glared at him in realization. "Hey! What's with the backhanded compliment, you asshole?"

He completely ignored my anger and put his hands on my shoulders, looking deeply into my eyes. "It's been staring us in the face the entire time but we just haven't seen it!"

"What has?"

"Lorna! She's alive. That tenacious little shit is alive somewhere!"


	12. Lumen VI: Even in Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "When they Cry" is strong with this one huehuehue

_[Soundtrack: The Place of All Fears - Dragon Age: Inquisition]_

* * *

_Serenity awakens surrounded by flames and soot. Ashes rain from the sky onto the blackened courtyard and damp ringlets of her dark hair dangle over her eyes; that's how she knows it's another dream. Her entire body aches and feels incredibly heavy. She doesn't know what she's doing or what she's looking at, but she knows that the pain is more than just physical. Every facet of her existence is hurting immensely._

_A headache rages behind her eyes, making her vision go in and out, leaving her on the very precipice of consciousness. She wants to give in, but a supernatural force causes her to remain awake. Her soul is burning in hell, writhing, yet she feels like she deserves it. It's an overwhelming feeling like remorse mixed in with satisfaction…_

_In her mind's eye, she sees a young toddler dashing through a field of grass in a flowery tunic, her black hair full of weeds and violets. She's a mess, but she doesn't care… Serenity doesn't know who she is, but she knows the image makes her want to roar into the heavens and rip her own heart out of her chest. This creature in particular deserved none of the pain she suffered._

_Through the flames, she sees a familiar figure in heavy armor begin to tread towards her through the flames, dragging a greatsword behind him. Such an intimidating form, but she feels no fear, just intense sorrow. His shadow dances around his body, tempting his body to show weakness -but it refuses._

" _I'm sorry, my lady," he says as he kneels down before her, his face levelling with hers._

_Is that… Yugi? Even illuminated by the flames, it has all the same angles, and a jaw tightly clenched in concern. No, it can't be him._

" _She's killed them both!" she shrieks, having no control over her own lips. "The only things that have ever mattered to me!" The crackling of fire can't drown out the agony that echoes around them._

_The girl's face flashes again in her mind, followed by the face of a grinning man, the warmth of their bodies… now completely gone…_

_The man that looks like Yugi leans over and takes her into his arms, embracing her tightly. "As long as I live and breathe," he says into her ear. "I will make sure she doesn't get away with this. You have my absolute word."_

_She wails into his shoulder, trying and failing to get coherent words to come out of her bruised throat._

" _Shh… It's not over yet, my lady. We still need to get you out of here. You're our only hope…"_

_Just then, she feels a burst of air enter her lungs, and over the man's shoulder, she sees another man, this one wearing dark leather armor, his silver hair glowing white in the flames. He wears a dark and solemn expression on his face._

_Before she can even react to his presence, she feels the man that looks like Yugi unwrap his arms from her tiny form and push her behind him. "Stay away from her, demon!" he hollers at something only he can see._

_In the next moment, she feels a great pain in her chest as well as a strange and terrifying sense of weightlessness. Through blurred vision, she can see the courtyard now several meters below her._

" _Oh, Shadow…" a whispered voice drifts across the courtyard, so quiet that the flames themselves hush to make it heard. "How you try to change the past… You will watch them die over and over again, and there's nothing you can do about it…"_

" _Shut up!" an unfamiliar voice bellows over the crackling of the flames -the silver haired man's voice._

" _ **She**_   _will die over and over again," the voice whispers again, "And there's nothing you can do about it."_

" _I told you to stop!" the man snaps. He can't even see the one that taunts him; his eyes dart around, trying to find a way to stop everything from happening -to save her. She's the only one that matters anymore. She's the only hope his soul has._

" _You don't have much time left… She's nearly dead now, which means you'll just go back to the beginning and do it all over again…" There's a sick sense of glee in the demonic voice. "Better luck next time…"_

_Those are the last words she manages to hear before she begins to feel the pull of sleep. She can't even keep her eyes open anymore…_

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Darkness Time - Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony]_

* * *

"No!" she cries out at the top of her lungs as her body rises from its slumber. She thrashes against her covers letting out a ghostly wail, so deep and guttural it shocks her. "Take me back!" Serenity screams. "Take me back to my baby! She killed my baby!"

Her breathing is so quick that she can't handle it. The darkness is overwhelming her, showing her faces and memories that don't even belong to her. A lifetime of happiness and the horror of loss. She's alone and her heart is shattered.

"Please just give her back to me! Please! Don't leave me alone!" she sobs.

From the darkness, a jarring noise makes her swallow her screams. It's the sound of static followed by a voice. "Serenity, my dear. I never expected  _you_  to be our first rule-breaker. Remember, no speaking is allowed when the lights are out. This is your first warning."

Pegasus?

Realization washes over her like a tsunami. She's still on Pegasus's submarine… she's still playing his sick game. She never lost anyone. She's alone, but her friends are all in their rooms close to her.

She then realizes one more thing: the lights are out. This means that the five minute window to commit murder has already started, and nobody is safe. The only thing she can do is sit in the dark room, filling the silence with her quickened breath. She hardly knows what to even think about, between the ongoing blackout and the images from her nightmares. Emotions that didn't even belong to her still rushed through her mind, making it harder to stop the sobs from racking her body.

The shock of being scolded by Pegasus on the intercom makes the thudding of her heart unbearable. The organ is dancing in her throat, threatening to halt her breathing completely. She feels like she's going to die in that very moment if the lights don't come back on.

She nearly screams when she hears her door open in the stillness of the dark. Of course, the hallway outside is also dark, so she can't see the intruder, but she can hear their footsteps coming towards her and the soft click of the door as it closes behind them. She can feel her bed sink as the person sits down. They're also breathing quite heavily, and once she stills her own breath, she recognizes the man behind the gasping.

She manages to untangle her arms from each other, as she had been hugging herself with pain. She then reaches for the figure, tracing their arms, shoulders, and face. Sighing with relief, she throws herself at him, burying her face in his chest and inhaling his scent. Thank god; it's Ryou. She lets herself sink into him, and felt his arms tighten around her body. Their heartbeats race in sync and the mere few minutes of the power outage feels like all the time in the world.

The moment Serenity's night light comes back on and illuminates her room dimly, feels like an earth shattering release, as both of them exhale deeply in each other's arms, shuddering in trepidation.

"Are you alright?" he asks her, a shaking hand moving to stroke the back of her head. "I heard Pegasus's announcement and I couldn't stay put, I-"

She nods and reluctantly removes his arms from her body. "I had another nightmare," she says bluntly, wiping her tears with the backs of her hands. "I'm fine… Thank you."

Before Ryou can even ask, the door to Serenity's room opens with a loud bang and the silhouette of Rex Raptor can be seen in the doorway. He raises a brow briefly at the scene before him before sobering up and asking, "Have you guys seen Sera? She's not in her room."

"What do you mean?" Ryou questioned. "Do you think -" It dawns on the couple exactly what they had neglected to think about while they were comforting each other. That five minutes of darkness was the window of opportunity that Pegasus allowed for murder. Someone in the submarine could very well be dead, and the fact that Sera is missing, doesn't bode well.

Just then, a wave of exhaustion rushes over Serenity and she groans quietly, feeling her body shudder. She clenches her limbs to her body and shakes her head to make the feeling go away.

"Hey, Serenity. You okay?" Rex asks approaching her slowly, but in the darkness of the room, his silhouette shifts in and out of focus. His body sways slowly towards her.

"I think I'm just tired," she mumbles, gingerly shifting until her legs are dangling off the side of the bed. "All I need is to get up and move around."

She hears Rex chuckle. "What I would give for a coffee. Maybe Pegasus'll give us some murder coffee after we find the bodies."

"Rex!" Serenity scolds. "What if someone is actually dead?"

He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm tired, too, I guess. And I'm worried about Sera."

"Then let's try to find her," Ryou says, helping Serenity get to her feet. "Perhaps we'll meet the others on the way."

The trio leave the room and begin to trek through the dark corridor. On the way, they stop at Malik's room and retrieve him as well.

Rex tries the door handle for Zephyr's room and it opens with ease, but his bed looks neat and not slept in. It looks like he hasn't spent much time there since arriving. Similarly, Malik tries Mako's door, only to find it locked. He administers several loud knocks to the door before giving up. No answer there. The group of four try to knock on the other guests' rooms, but have no luck.

"Did fish boy really sleep through all that?" Rex scowls.

"Strange," Ryou notes. "Where could they all be?"

After exhausting all other avenues, the group makes their way towards the showers. None of them say a word, all equally unnerved by the darkness and the lifelessness in the submarine. Was it even possible that all of the other guests were still asleep?

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Ridicule - Umineko No Naku Koro Ni]_

* * *

Nobody quite knows what to expect when opening the door to the showers, but as soon as they do so, the automatic lights light up the room, nearly blinding them. It only takes them a moment to adjust and see the grizzly sight before them.

The shower stall directly opposite to the door is wide open and, seated against the pale tile walls, staining it red, was the body of Zephyr. His entire shirt was dark with blood, in contrast to his face, which was pale as death. By the looks of it, his chest had been stabbed so many times, the flesh underneath looked like it had been absolutely eviscerated. It also looks like someone had propped him against the wall post-mortem, and his arms dangled uselessly by his side.

The entire group stares in silence for nearly a minute before Rex, ever the breaker of silences, speaks up. "What in the fuck is this shit!"

"Another member of Team Beta," Ryou says solemnly.

"Does it even matter what team he's from?" Malik snaps at the other boy.

Bakura nods. "Well, we're going to have to find out who killed him, right? And seeing as he couldn't have possibly committed suicide like Lia, it matters that whoever did this, didn't break the rules."

"Where's the murder weapon?" Serenity asks nobody in particular, still trying to take in the sight in front of her. Part of her wonders why this doesn't shock her as much as it should.

She wanders away from the body towards the sinks and turns the tap on. She cups her hand under the cool water and splashes it against her face, trying to make the sense of fatigue go away. Observing her own dark face in the mirror, she spots a dark stain from underneath the closed shower stall behind her.

Immediately, she turns around and hesitantly approaches the stall door. She moves her hand towards the handle and tries to open it, only to find the door locked. "Huh?"

"Is everything alright, Serenity?" Ryou asks her. His arms are crossed over his chest as he glances in her direction.

"This door is locked," she mentions as she tugs the door again to no avail.

The boys all crowd around her discovery, each trying the door for themselves. Finally, Malik pushes the rest away and says to the rest, "Here goes nothing…" before slamming his foot against the door, breaking its lock and causing it to swing open. The sound of a loud crack rings in the aftermath of his actions. Something about it is very unnerving - _that's not the sound a door makes when it hits the wall_.

"There's blood in here," Rex remarks quietly, taking in the scene. "But could it be…" After a moment, he says, "I'm gonna take a look inside." He steps into the shower and shuts the door behind him.

For a few minutes, the showers are quiet, and Rex mentions nothing from inside of the stall. "You okay in there?" Malik calls out.

Serenity notices that his breathing has gotten heavier, but Rex still doesn't say a word. "Rex, what did you find?"

Malik lets out a sigh and moves to push the door open when he feels an unexpected force -not the broken lock, but Rex himself, pushing the door closed. "N-No! Wait. Don't open it yet!" he cries out, his voice cracking uncharacteristically. "Let me just… Let me just get her down…"

His words are a jab to her heart.  _Get her down?_  "What do you mean?" she questions, beginning to fear the worst.

"She's stuck on the hook," he replies through the door."If you open the door, you'll hit her again…"

"Who's stuck, Rex?" Malik asks, his voice gentler now. "What are you talking about?"

Rex lets out another set of heavy breaths before finally replying. "I can't get her down…" His defeated voice is hard to listen to.

"Doesn't this door also open in the opposite direction?" Serenity asks, trying to pull the door towards her, but the hinges are stuck as a result of Malik's kick.

"Rex, I'm coming in to help you," Malik announces, gently pushing the door open just enough to let himself through. Once he's in, however, Ryou and Serenity hear him let out a string of curses.

"What is it?" Ryou insists.

"It's Sera," Malik responds desolately. "She's… she's also been murdered. She's stuck on the hook on the door."

"How could she possibly be stuck on that?" Serenity asks, but she's almost afraid to find out the answer.

There's hesitation in his voice when he says, "Maybe you two should come in and see for yourselves."

The couple slowly push their way into the shower, careful not to push the door too far in. Unfortunately, neither are prepared for what they find next. True to Rex and Malik's accounts, Sera is hanging on the hook on the shower door. This hook, meant to innocently hold their bags while they showered, is now embedded deep within the back of Sera's neck. With the sheer volume of blood that covered the door, her clothes, and the ground, it's unlikely that she's alive; but if there were ever any doubt, Ryou also attempts to check her pulse.

This is what proves to be too much for Serenity's stomach. She can barely stand to be in front of Sera's corpse for more than a minute before she pushes past the boys and exits the stall, emptying her guts into the sink. Then, just as Ryou's reflection in the mirror begins to walk towards her, she feels her fatigue slam into her body like a high-speed train, and just like that, she's out cold.

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Tell a Thing - Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni]_

* * *

She doesn't know how long time has passed until her eyes no longer feel heavy. She feels the softness of the goosefeather blankets that Pegasus had provided them, and the perfect stiffness of the mattress underneath her. If she hadn't known any better, she would have thought she were in a lavish hotel room. However, that is not the case. Soon, all the images from before she had fallen asleep flood her mind and the satisfaction of sleep is completely replaced by alarm and discomfort.

Sera and Zephyr are dead.

Just as that thought crosses her mind, the intercom in her room bursts to life and she hears a voice she loathes fill her room. "Rise and shine, everyone. The mess hall is now open for breakfast. Of course, if you'd rather get your beauty sleep, you can wait until lunch, but it's hard to conduct a murder investigation on an empty stomach, isn't it?"

She shudders in disgust. What a terrible, twisted man…

As Serenity leaves her room, she comes face to face with a disgruntled Sun, who seems to have been making her way towards the cafeteria. "Mmh… Good morning, Serenity. Is everything alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." This doesn't look like the face of a woman who has seen two dead bodies.

Serenity pursed her lips. "I… Don't you know?"

"Know what?" Sun questions, furrowing her brow.

"About Zephyr and Sera!" Serenity cries.

Whatever remnants of sleep had been on Sun's face earlier, they're all gone now when she hears the other girl's words. "What about them?"

"We found them last night… after the blackout. We tried knocking on your door but you didn't hear us…" Serenity explains.

"We? Who's we?" Sun asks suspiciously, her eyes narrow and her posture stiff.

"Rex, Malik, and Ryou were with me. We found them in the showers!"

Sun bites her lip and glares. "Rex, Malik, and Ryou came back? When did that happen? I thought they were missing. Where were they?"

As Serenity seeks to answer these questions, she feels a fog come up in her mind. "Wait…" she gasps softly, placing a delicate hand to her mouth. "They… they  _were_  missing, weren't they? I… never even thought to ask them…"

"Well, if they're here now, I can ask them myself. Now, show me where you found Zephyr and Sera!" Sun commands, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

With Sun at her heels, Serenity rushes towards the showers. She can feel her empty stomach lurching at the thought of seeing the bodies again. In her mind, she can hear the sound of the crack when Malik accidentally slammed Sera's head into the wall. She can still smell the iron and rot, and feel the humidity and cold of the neon lit tomb.

As Serenity opens the door to the shower room, Sun aggressively shoves the younger girl out of the way and drops to her knees in front of the open stall door, where Zephyr's pale corpse stares back at her, just the way they had left it last night. The only things supporting Sun's shaking body are her two arms. With her hands pressed against the ground, her arms threaten to buckle under her weight.

"What's going on here?" someone says, and Serenity feels her body gently moved out of the doorway to make room for more people.

Mako and Enzi are together when they show up, attached at the hip as they are. Enzi, being the elder of the group, makes the first tentative move to Sun, who hasn't spoken since laying eyes on Zephyr.

"Sun? Are you alright?"

With an abrupt snap, her head turns to face the man, and she snarls ferally, "You don't get to ask me that! You're a member of Alpha.  _You_  are the only one who could have done this! You and -and…" Her voice trails off as though she's suddenly lost her train of thought.

Like a possessed puppet, she rises to her feet and begins pushing open stalls. "Serenity! You said Sera was also dead, right?"

"Wait just a minute!" Mako cries. "What do you mean Sera is also dead?"

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Rainy Days - Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni]_

* * *

It feels as though time is moving very slowly to Serenity. She's already experienced this: the body discovery. She has no wish to go through it again, but she has no choice. Where are Ryou, Rex, and Malik? What did they do after finding the bodies? Did they just go to sleep? How could anyone sleep after that?

With heavy steps, Serenity pushes herself forward to the stall that she knew to contain Sera's body. She runs her hand over the door handle and spots the lock indicator. The door isn't just jammed, it's locked. However, Malik broke the lock and opened it just last night, so how could it possibly be locked now?

"She's in here," she says weakly.

"Is someone in there with her?" Enzi's eyes land on the red lock indicator.

"Peculiar…" Mako notes, stroking his chin.

Without a warning, Sun marches past the three of them and slams the heel of her boot against the door. Serenity tries to brace against the sound of the crack that she knows is coming, but it's just as stomach turning as it was the first time.

Serenity tries to look past the swinging door to see if anyone else could have been in there, but she can't see anyone. Flashes from last night of Rex entering the stall by himself and blocking the door enter her mind. Still, Rex is nowhere to be found.

"I don't see anything," Sun declares dismissively.

"It kinda sounded like there's something behind the door," Enzi suggests.

Taking on the role of leader, Sun enters the stall and shuts the door slowly, and the gasp she makes is unmistakable. "Oh, she's in here alright."

Rafael makes an appearance shortly after this discovery, having gone to the mess hall on his own, only to find nobody there. Of course, two dead bodies aren't what he had expected to find so early in the morning.

It's all so redundant and Serenity finds herself almost… bored. She's tired and she doesn't want to investigate anything. She just wants to go back to her room and cry herself to sleep. It's not like Pegasus mentioned any sort of punishment for refusing to investigate. As long as she makes sure not to break any of his rules, she's free to lock herself in her room until it's all over.

She doesn't know how long she stands there just watching the other four bicker and debate about the nature of this double murder -or is it a murder suicide? She doesn't know; she hasn't been following their logic. Pegasus also shows up to remind everyone that we would have to determine the identity of the killer or killers at 6PM -just like yesterday.

As the four are crowded around Zephyr's corpse, Serenity finds herself drawn to Sera's stall again. She hears a soft thump and pushes the door open slightly to enter the stall and investigate.

" _Serenity…"_

She looks up at the corpse, hung up on a hook like an animal. Unlike Zephyr, Sera's eyes are wide open and bloodshot, but her skin is pale and bruising in comparison. Her short blonde hair is stained with what was likely blood.

" _Get me down, Serenity…"_

"Huh?" Serenity's eyes widen as it looks like Sera's chest is heaving erratically.

" _It hurts so much… I can't… breathe…"_

The voice is unmistakably hers, but Sera's mouth, caked in dry blood, isn't moving at all. And whatever Serenity had seen earlier, the body is just as still. "Sera?"

She waits for around five minutes for a reply from the disembodied voice, but as though it were a trick of her mind, the voice is gone, replaced by the sound of Rafael, Sun, Enzi, and Mako arguing. It's as though she had suddenly awoken from a nightmare. Perhaps she really had drifted off… She still feels very tired. Maybe she'll leave the investigating to the adults and go to sleep.


	13. Somnium IV: Embers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah it's been 6 months, but uhhhhh I think u really need 6 months to emotionally prepare yourselves for this chapter.
> 
> This chapter is also lovingly called "You'd be surprised the things I'm not above writing"

 

_[Soundtrack:_ _The Musty Scent of Fresh Pâté - The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine]_

* * *

It's easy to forget you're dead when you've been living, breathing, and going about your life for five years. Quite a bit can change in five years, too. Shadow feels like a grain of sand in an hourglass, waiting his turn to fall. Some days are better than others, but it's torture waiting for something and knowing he may not even recognize it when it comes.

Atlantis is thriving; more than  _thriving_ , it's alive. True to her word, Luna never showed her face in front of him again, but it seems like she never escaped her name. Maybe that's  _her_  curse -she's a goddess whether she likes it or not, and Shadow's curse is having to count down the days. You see, no matter how long Shadow or Luna can stay alive, there's a time limit to how long Atlantis can exist, and that is the day that Dartz unleashes the Leviathan. It won't be long now…

Shadow lurches forward, swinging his blade towards Evren's side. She catches the blow with her hooked war club, redirecting it to the empty air to the side and throwing him off his balance.

"Not good enough, boss," she smirks, doing a limber dance on her toes.

Shadow grunts, dragging his sword back towards himself. "Do you ever stop gloating?"

A huge grin breaks out on her face, showing every single one of her teeth. "Me? Never."

He flexes his wrists a bit. "Gonna have to teach you some manners then." In a flash, he's back in Evren's face, thrusting his sword. Not fast enough, however, because she's caught it again and jumped back. He doesn't let up, though, letting out blow after blow. Evren's technique depends on being quick on her feet, but not if he can exhaust her first.

She twists out of his reach again and again, her sandals tapping against the pavement rhythmically. If one were to listen closely, they may even be able to predict her next move. But the moment the rhythm gets too familiar, she shifts the paradigm completely, dancing to a different beat.

She laughs, feeling the wind blow through the sweat on her scalp and through the fabric of her tunic. Her movements are effortless, as she swipes at Shadow with her club, catching him in the jaw, and forcing him to recoil. She leers at him through knowing eyes as he rubs at his sore face and tries to get back into formation.

Frustration starts to creep up on Shadow, making his arms tingle with newfound strength. He rushes at Evren, and her arms shoot to her face to protect her neck. He's coming for blood now. Whoever said spite was a poor motivator is a liar.

She yelps and jumps back, nearly losing her footing before using her momentum to push against the ground and hit back at him, pushing his blade back to his own neck, drawing blood. "You nearly killed me, you asshole," she spits at his face.

He grins at her and leans forward, his nose nearly touching hers. "That was the point, you cocky piece of shit."

"That's enough for today," a stern voice interjects. Rayan steps into the fray, grabbing both combatants roughly by their shoulders and prying them apart. "I don't see the appeal of sparring with real weapons. If one of you dies over this foolishness, I'm throwing you into the gutter for the rats."

Sweating and panting, Evren leans into her lover's touch. "Shadow couldn't even kill me if he tried."

Shadow's silver hair clings to his forehead as he lets out short, quick breaths. "Fuck you, Evren."

"Why don't you patch up your pretty neck, your highness?"

"If you think it's so pretty, why don't I give you a matching scar."

"Just try it."

Rayan rolls her eyes and pushes Evren back before giving Shadow a firm look. "Are you going to Princess Kriss's coming-of-age celebration?"

With a quizzical raise of his brow, he frowns. "Are you asking if the Shadow King is going to the Pretender Princess's birthday party?" He then cracks a smile. "Of course, I'm going. What do I look like? Some kind of dirty peasant?" He then held out his arms, his robes, covered in nearly a decade's worth of dirt and sweat, hanging pathetically off of his dark toned arms.

With a snort, Rayan tosses a wet washcloth at his face. "Maybe put on some clean clothes before you present yourself before the goddess Luna."

Evren twists her face in mock disgust. "And her husband -that pompous Lord Hermos."

Shadow rubs the cool cloth over his hot face, if only to hide his distasteful expression. "I didn't even know goddesses could get married." He hadn't been aware that the legendary knights would show themselves this early either, meaning Luna must have brought them out somehow -not that he can say any of this to Rayan or Evren.

Ever the voice of reason, Rayan sighs. "Just because the goddess has become a part of the royal court doesn't mean we should speak ill of her or her husband. Besides,  _you're_ the one who scared her off, Shadow."

He knows that Rayan is right, but he can't tell her the real reason he wanted Luna as far away from him as possible. The night of the coming-of-age celebration may be the first time he sees Luna since the day that they met all those years ago. He's not exactly looking forward to it, but such a public celebration will be one of the only times when the castle is open to the public, meaning it's a wonderful time for spies.

* * *

_[Soundtrack:_ _Beyond Hill and Dale - The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine]_

* * *

It's a beautiful day at the Atlas Citadel, at the center of which, is the palace grounds and the Grand Temple, as well as the private gardens. The gardens are not open to the public except for during times of celebration, such as the coming-of-age ceremony of the Princess of Atlantis.

The beautifully sculpted archways have images of Neptune and the creation of Atlantis depicted along the sides. Servants are dashing back and forth underneath the arches, carrying decorations into the main courtyard of the garden, where the main festivities will be occurring. Merchants from as far as Rome and Libya have been permitted to set up their own booths and promote their exotic wares to the Atlantean people.

Kriss, now a woman of thirteen, has her hair plaited and tied with ribbons and is walking alongside her wolf, Skye, through the mess of people, careful not to let her hound linger by any of the merchants. Some people can be unreasonably anxious around Skye, although the old girl wouldn't hurt a fly. That doesn't stop Kriss, however, as, due to her illness, she's rarely been allowed to leave her room.

Sitting atop the white wolf is a younger girl, just three years old. She's lazily resting her head on Skye's head and hugging her tightly, digging her tiny hands into the wolf's fur. From afar, she looks like a mess of long black curls sitting atop a cluster of fabric, wrapped in colorful sashes. Her hair is kept out of her small, sleepy blue eyes by a small ornate brooch with an aquamarine gem inside of it -a pure Orichalcos crystal.

It amuses Kriss that nobody knows who she is as she makes her way deeper into the garden. So many people going about their business, completely oblivious to the fact that they've just been in the presence of Princess Kriss of Atlantis and Juno, daughter of the goddess, Luna, and the legendary knight, Hermos.

Juno moans quietly into Skye's fur, beginning to fall asleep like a kitten under the warm afternoon sun. The wolf bristles as Juno nuzzles her neck and digs her arms deeper. Skye lets out a small whine and gives Kriss a pointed look.

Kriss sighs and mumbles, "Can't you hold out until we find her mom. She's somewhere in the gardens."

Skye yips in complacency and does what must be the canine equivalent of an eye roll before trotting ahead and leaving Kriss to jog in order to keep up with her. She weaves through the crowd, careful not to let Juno slip off of her back.

"Hey! Skye! Slow down!" Kriss complains, as she begins to lose sight of Skye in the crowd. The gardens are a maze and if she can't keep an eye on Skye, she may very well lose both the wolf and the girl.

Once the crowd thins, she spots Skye passing through an archway leading into a veritable maze of giant rose bushes and imposing marble statues, carved over the centuries by Atlantean artists dating as far back as the time of King Atlas himself. She's been in there a few times before, and always found herself afraid and claustrophobic. She hadn't set out to go that far into the gardens with Skye and Juno to begin with.

"Oh, no. Skye…" she groans under her breath, dashing as fast as her legs will take her through the archway and into the maze.

She feels a chill run down her spine, bypassing the layers of fabric draped over her bony figure and seeping into her blood, causing her muscles to feel languid and heavy. She slows to a walk, trying not to make eye contact with the marble titans around her.

"Skye? Skye!" she calls out.

She can't help but feel like the atmosphere has abruptly darkened; it's like even the sun won't visit this portion of the garden. She's heard rumors that her mother's sister, Kilyn, having hid in this labyrinth before being caught by the guards and executed. Kilyn was the witch that nearly killed her during her birth by setting the fire that resulted in her mother's infertility and Kriss's own chronic illness.

She folds her arms over her chest and glances up at a statue of Neptune, leaning casually against his trident, while puffing up his chest and letting what little light is filtering into the maze ricochet off his rippling chest. He seems to be looking down, almost in pity. She knows that this man -this god -is her great grandfather, regardless of how many "greats" ago that was.

Perhaps he can see her looking for Skye. Perhaps he's seen Skye. Her father tells her that Neptune is still watching over them even now. So, shutting her eyes and kneeling before the statue, she quietly prays.

"Grandfather, please help me find Skye so I don't have to stay in this maze. Please! Please!"

She lifts one of her eyelids to sneak a glance at Neptune's stone face, looking into his cold, lifeless eyes and trying to find some sort of reassurement. Her living grandfather, Ironheart, has the most loving eyes in Atlantis. Not sad, like her mother's, or grim, like her father's. Ironheart makes her feel like she could save Atlantis, illness or no illness. Neptune doesn't have those eyes; his eyes are dark and made of ancient marble.

She sighs and shakes her head, rising to her feet and longing for the warmth of the sun again on her arms. Skye doesn't leave the palace much, as it's her job to watch over the princess, but Kriss never realized she has been this restless.

"Come back, Skye!"

She hears a rustle in the bushes and feels the life come back to her legs, propelling her towards the sound. She then hears a low woof, followed by the familiar patter of footsteps as Skye casually strolls towards Kriss, a victorious look in her eyes.

Kriss collapses onto her wolf and holds her, burying her face in her neck. "Never disappear like that again, girl, alright?"

Skye whines and pushes her nose into Kriss's neck, covering her neck and cheek with wet kisses until the girl giggles and pushes her away.

"Wait," Kriss says, straightening up and noting that something is missing from the wolf's back. "Where's Juno?"

Skye cocks her head to the side in confusion, whining quietly.

"Skye! Where's Juno!" Kriss insists, her heart dropping out of her chest and onto the ground. She tears her eyes away from Skye and looks around the maze as if Juno would just pop out, giggling the way that she does and hobble with that bow legged gait that all toddlers have into her arms.

She glares at the statue of Neptune and then at Skye, who looks back with sad eyes, unsure of what she did wrong. Of course she doesn't know what she did wrong! Kriss has been riding on Skye's back since she was a toddler and she's always trusted Skye to never leave her behind. She's also been training her to take care of Juno since the babe's birth. Something is terribly, terribly wrong.

"Juno!" she hollers into the maze, running blindly deeper into the maze without even thinking. "Juno, where are you!"

How can she possibly tell the goddess that she'd lost her daughter?

* * *

_[Soundtrack:_ _Piano Etude II - Rule of Rose]_

* * *

Five years ago, Luna was dead. Today, she's experiencing death once again. She feels her hand shiver in her husband's own calloused hands. Hermos lets her dig her nails into his palms and twist his fingers between her own. The porcelain mask on her face hides unblinking, bloodshot eyes and trembling lips.

"I'm sorry!" Kriss squeaks, bowing so low that her head is touching the ground. "I'll find her. I'm so sorry!"

Luna's throat is too tight to let sound pass through her lips, so Hermos takes over for her. "It's not your fault, your highness."

Kriss's eyes widen when she sees her mother's dark glower behind Luna. Iona's inky black hair is laid down over one shoulder and her eyes are lined with kohl. She looks like she's holding a torrent deep in her chest that could total a city.

"We -We should cancel my coming-of-age -" Despair burrows into Kriss's joints and fills her head with tar-like black smoke. Her lungs begin to fold in on themselves and her chest moves rapidly up and down, trying to force them to suck in air.

"K-Kriss!" Luna's voice pierces through her throat. She breaks away from her husband and pulls the princess towards her. "It's alright. You need to breathe." She throws her mask to the side, hearing it shatter against the stone floor and forces Kriss to look at her. "Kriss, take a deep breath."

Iona's face is a hard mask as she drops her hands to her sides and walks towards the door out of Luna's chambers. Facing away from the goddess, she says, "I've already sent out the guard to look for Juno. If we cancel the celebration, everyone will know something is wrong. It may be more of a risk to Juno's safety if the knowledge that she's missing is made public."

Breathing still feels foreign to Kriss, but her lungs seem to be working again. She slows her breathing as much as she can, gaze still trained towards Luna, but her mother lingers in her peripherals.

"It's gotta be someone from the palace," Kriss says quietly. "Skye was watching her and she'd never let Juno out of her sight unless someone she trusted took her. It has to be someone Skye trusts."

Luna nods slowly, her eyes never leaving Kriss. "Thank you, Kriss."

"Come now, Kriss. You shouldn't bother the goddess any longer. You've caused enough trouble for one day," Iona calls out.

Kriss blushes and steps away from Luna, whose sad, brown eyes are still calmly on her. "Right away, mother."

* * *

_[Soundtrack:_ _Empress of Fire (Instrumental) - Dragon Age: Inquisition]_

* * *

The evening brings festivities the Atlas Citadel hasn't seen in years. Stained glass lanterns are hanging from the trees and foreigners in beautifully woven cloth are dancing to the upbeat melodies played by the court musicians. The wind carries the heavy scents of Libyan spices and roses.

Technically, prostitutes are not permitted to work nights like these, but even the royals can't deny their guests such proclivities. As such, Rayan along with her girls and boys make a killing during grand celebrations such as this. They're easily identifiable by their light, almost transparent, robes and the beautiful and ornate laurels woven into their hair.

Shadow can't help but ogle a bit at the way the escorts danced through the crowd, tossing flower petals and whispering in the ears of the people whose eyes lingered just a touch longer than everyone else. He's engaged in their services before himself, which Rayan offers him at a great discount. However, tonight is all business -at least for himself and his spies.

The spies blend into the crowd for the most part, unless you know what to look for. Shadow has personally marked each one of his people and eyes them cautiously as he leisurely strolls through the market, smiling at a young merchant girl, brown face dotted with freckles. She speaks to him with her foreign tongue, holding up beautiful handmade robes that he knows he couldn't possibly afford. Still… A pretty girl like her… He decides he'd revisit her booth when the night dies down. Perhaps he can persuade her to offer him more than just fabrics.

As he nears the end of the market, he spots a gathering of the palace guard near the garden maze -too many for a party like this. It seems like the palace is expecting trouble… And he wants to be there.

With his mind formulating a strategy to get past the guards, he nearly misses the gentle tap on his shoulder. He turns and finds a familiar face, perhaps a bit more mature than he remembers it. Luna's once girlish eyes are narrow and anxious; her once soft lips are dry and taut. She's not wearing her mask, he notes, which means that she's not supposed to be here either.

"Shadow, I need you to tell me you didn't do this," she hisses.

"Do what?"

"My daughter…" It is then that he notices that the shiver in her voice isn't rage, but fear. She's terrified.

"What happened to her?"

"She's gone. Please tell me it wasn't you or your people and I won't tell the guard that the festival is packed with your spies." Her threat doesn't hold much weight behind it, however. She doesn't mean it.

Shadow sighs, his brow furrowing in frustration. "That's why there's extra guards working. Your girl's been taken? Well, I don't know anything about it."

"You're telling the truth?" she insists.

"Would I lie to you, your worship?" He leans into her.

"I'm serious," she snaps, taking a step back. "Your spies… Could you ask them to… Would it be too much to ask if…"

He straightens up and rubs his face. "You want us to help you find her?"

"Yes, if -"

"Fine. I'll talk to the escorts, too."

"You will?"

"I'm not a complete monster, Luna. I don't wanna see your kid get hurt." He can hear his internal monologue scoff at that statement.

"Thank you," she says hoarsely, grabbing one of his hands and squeezing it in gratitude. "I won't forget this." With that, she runs off.

When Rayan dashes to him, whitefaced, he nearly forgets Luna's words. "Shadow, you need to come with us."

"What is it?" he asks, spotting Evren nearby with a look on her face that is so morose that he scarcely recognized her.

"It's something not of this world," she says, pulling him by the hand and taking him to an abandoned area of the garden.

The lack of light makes his reactions sluggish, but when he realizes what Rayan had meant to show him, his bones nearly leap out of his skin. It's definitely not of this world. What lays before him is a creature with short grey fur, nearly as big as a horse but with humanoid extremities. Its fur is stained maroon and he can see blood pooling around it.

"This thing was a man," Rayan explains. "He tried to force himself on me and when Evren stepped in, he turned into this… thing."

He's heard of spirits inhabiting the more remote towns outside of the capital. Many of them are repulsed by the power of the Orichalcos that King Dartz had taken to using in order to rebuild his Citadel. Of course, anyone with a sane mind who's heard the story of the original Shadow Queen would be rightly worried about widespread use of Orichalcos. Looks like Dartz didn't get the memo, though.

This thing, however, is definitely not a spirit. Spirits never get violent and they normally disappear when they die, returning to the Inbetween. There isn't a doubt in Shadow's mind that this is just a normal man corrupted by the Orichalcos. He grunts and frowns. So they're closer to the destruction of Atlantis than he thought.

"What should we do?" Evren asks.

"Leave it for the guards to find," he says. "I have another job for you two."

* * *

_[Soundtrack: Forgive Me - Game of Thrones]_

* * *

Ironheart sighs heavily as he looks down on yet another corpse, hidden away in one of the darker corners of the garden maze. His guards have been turning up dead in their search for the goddess's daughter, Juno, and there have been absolutely no clues as to who or what is causing these deaths. At this rate, his predictions for the young girl's fate grow more and more grim.

"My Lord," a solemn voice interrupts his thoughts, as one of the three legendary knights, Critias, steps up to speak to him. He holds out a long clear shard of crystal, as long as his forearm, its tip covered in blood. "We found this piece of Orichalcos growing out of the ground. One of your men had been impaled on it."

With a grumble, Ironheart says, "There's dark magic here. I should never have let Dartz get his hands on those blasted crystals."

A scout approaches the two, his shoulders tense and his pace hesitant. "Your majesty. Th-They're requesting your presence for the lighting of the great flame."

Ironheart's gaze burns through the poor boy's head before he simply nods and places a hand on Critias's shoulder. "I cannot let Kriss do this alone. It has been a difficult day for her. I trust you will keep an eye on things, Critias?"

"Of course, my Lord." Critias bows.

Ironheart promptly follows the scout through the maze and back out into the open bazaar area. The general populace have been cleared to the sides of the courtyard, allowing room for a mound of wood as large as a small cottage, covered by a white cloth, to be placed in the center of the courtyard.

He finds Kriss's small figure standing between her mother and father, holding a torch nearly as tall as she is. Her face lights up when she sees him and he offers her a warm smile in return as he takes his place next to his son.

"Have you found anything, father?" Dartz asks under his breath.

"The Orichalcos is spreading… like rot. There's something dark in that garden."

Dartz elects to ignore the sharp tone his father had taken with him. "We should find Juno quickly then, shouldn't we?"

One of the high priests begins to recite the traditional rites, as they were said for Dartz before her, and Ironheart before him. Neither of them looked quite so miniscule as Kriss did, due in no small part to her illness.

When the rites are finished, Dartz reaches for his daughter's hand and begins to lead her to the mound of wood. "Make a prayer, dearest," he whispers to her. "Wish for whatever your heart desires."

Kriss inhales deeply, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "I pray we find Juno soon…" she says, lowering her torch to the flammable cloth, which lights up immediately.

The flame moves slowly at first, but then, as the mound picks up heat, the flame catches on quicker, spreading faster along the mound. Kriss finds the sight mesmerizing. How curious that, by simply lighting a flame, she's now a woman, capable of running the entirety of Atlantis if she ever has to.

That's when they hear it. At first, it sounds like a ghost, a trick of the wind. It's just a quiet moan. They're ready to disregard it when they hear another moan, louder this time, and then another.

"What in Neptune's name…" Dartz curses under his breath.

After that, the screaming starts. That's how they know it's coming from the mound itself.

Surprisingly, Kriss is the first to leap into action, thoughtlessly dashing to the pyre to pull off the flaming cloth with her bare hands. "Kriss, no!" Iona cries, grasping her daughter by the shoulders at the last moment.

Thinking quickly, Ironheart unsheathes his sword and tears the cloth off. The fire dies out as the cloth hits the ground. The flames have already gotten beneath the cloth and set the wood aflame, however, and in their brightness, he can barely see what's underneath; the scent of burning flesh is what gives it away.

"Gather dirt! Water! Anything you can find to put out the flame!" Ironheart barks at the guards, servants, and even the attendees. It's strictly taboo to put out the ceremonial flame before it burns itself out, but these are exceptional circumstances. "Hurry!"

Several members of the crowd do not hesitate to dash off in search of anything that could put the flame out. The courtyard is in chaos.

Iona pulls Kriss away from the flames, for fear that the smoke and scent would cause her illness to act out. She expects Kriss to put up a fight, but the girl is limp in her hands, unconscious due to shock or smoke inhalation -it's hard to tell. "Healer!" she cries out. "Healer!"

The screaming begins to die down and Ironheart stops for a moment to catch his breath and wipe the sweat off his brow. By the time the flame has died down to mere embers, he knows it's too late. It's still too hot to reach into the ashes and find out who or what had been burning, but he catches sight of something glittering on the floor by his foot and reaches down to pick it up. It's hot and parts of it have melted, but there's no mistake. He's holding the remains of what had once been a beautiful ornate brooch with a single glittering Orichalcos crystal embedded in the center.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spots a mother, face twisted in horror, as her worst fears have just been realized. She drops to her knees and lets out an inhuman howl.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> I hate me too.
> 
> If you've seen Game of Thrones, tho, you prolly should have seen this coming.


End file.
